Len Desharnais thinks Canada’s hotel quarantine requirement for international travelers during the pandemic is a fair idea.
However, shortly after arriving in Vancouver from Bangkok on March 18, he said he had decided not to check into his quarantine hotel because he believed that due to his shuttle ride to the hotel and his observations, there were no adequate safety precautions for COVID -19 were taken on arrival.
“It’s just a joke. It’s not safe for me,” Desharnais said.
He is one of hundreds of international travelers struggling with Canada’s hotel quarantine requirement to help slow the spread of COVID-19.
As of March 30, 219 tickets have been issued to passengers entering Canada who refuse to quarantine at a particular hotel, the Canadian Public Health Department (PHAC) said. The fine for violating the requirement is $ 3,000.
CBC News interviewed two travelers, including Desharnais, who said they broke the rules for safety reasons and have not yet received a fine.
Traveler Len Desharnais said he decided not to check into his quarantine hotel in Vancouver because he believed proper COVID-19 safety protocols were not being followed. (Submitted by Len Desharnais)
On February 22nd, the Federal government commissioned Passengers entering Canada are required to take a COVID-19 test upon arrival and quarantine for up to three days at a government-approved hotel to await their test results. Passengers must pay the bill for their stay, which can cost up to $ 2,000.
Travelers who test negative can go home to end their 14-day quarantine. Those who test positive will be transferred to another government facility.
Desharnais, an Albertan who moved to Thailand 10 years ago, returned to Canada to do contract work as a security advisor in the oil industry at Fort McMurray, Alta.
He said he was concerned about checking into his quarantine hotel after taking the hotel shuttle bus from the airport.
“It was exactly at the point that I was worried and said that this was not a safe situation.”
Desharnais said he had become concerned about checking into his quarantine hotel after taking the hotel shuttle bus from the airport. This photo does not show the shuttle that Desharnais took. (Evan Mitsui / CBC)
Desharnais said the shuttle driver handled travelers’ luggage without gloves or disinfecting the bags. The shuttle was full so it wasn’t physically distant from other passengers. and there was no plexiglass between the passengers and the driver.
“He was with so many passengers all day … I was worried.”
Desharnais said that after arriving at the quarantine hotel, an employee also did not take any precautions when handling passengers’ luggage.
Current evidence suggests this The spread of COVID-19 occurs mainly through close contact with an infected person. However, this can be done by touching a contaminated surface.
Desharnais said he made the decision to leave at that point and conduct his entire 14-day quarantine with a friend in Prince George, BC
“If you think a job is unsafe, not only do you have the right, but you have to refuse. So I’ll include that in my personal life too.”
“It’s not about security”
Fanny Lapointe said she, too, had decided to skip the hotel quarantine requirement for security reasons and has not yet received a fine for it.
“What is safer to go straight to you and not see people, or to go to the hotel and see a lot of people?” said Lapointe, who lives just outside Montreal.
Traveler Fanny Lapointe says she defied the hotel’s quarantine rule because she felt the cost of the stay was too high and it would be safer to quarantine at home. (Fanny Lapointe / Facebook)
She said she flew to Las Vegas to attend a friend’s wedding and when she returned to Montreal on March 11, she went straight home.
Lapointe said she concluded she would be more safely quarantined at home after a friend who stayed at a quarantine hotel earlier this month told Lapointe that she would be allowed to leave her room during her stay.
“She could do what she wanted,” said Lapointe, who also protested the high price of the hotel stay.
“It’s all about punishing travelers. It’s not about safety.”
Several other travelers who have stayed in quarantined hotels have also complained to CBC News about what they believe to be lax COVID-19 security measures, including crowded waiting areas and quarantine guests who leave their hotel rooms free.
“There was no security, nothing prevented us from leaving the room,” said the snow bird Bob Ardern from Lunenburg, NS. He was in a quarantine hotel in Toronto in early April after returning from a winter stay in Curaçao, a Caribbean island.
The health department answers
Canada’s Public Health Authority (PHAC) spokesman Tammy Jarbeau told CBC News that the agency is monitoring hotels by quarantining guests and visiting hotels regularly to make sure they are complying with health and safety requirements Comply with agency.
Hotel guests can also file complaints with PHAC, according to Jarbeau.
“Hotels that do not meet the requirements set by PHAC will no longer be used as quarantine hotels,” Jarbeau said in an email.
At this point the government did approved 59 quarantine hotelswhich are located near the international airports in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and Montreal, the only cities currently allowed international flights to land in Canada.
Observe: Some international travelers complain about their hotel quarantine stay:
Some Canadians who had to stay in a mandatory quarantine hotel said they faced long delays, overcrowded waiting areas and problems accessing basic necessities such as food. 2:07
Jarbeau also said quarantining travelers is responsible for keeping them in their hotel room. According to a government websiteGuests can leave their rooms outdoors for the scheduled time but must be escorted by security.
In January, before the hotel quarantine rule went into effect, 0.5 percent of Canada’s COVID-19 cases were were combined with international travelaccording to PHAC. That number fell to 0.4 percent in both February and March.
The agency said these statistics were an “underestimation” of the actual numbers.
Hotel quarantine court battle
Both Lapointe and Desharnais said if they are fined by PHAC for refusing to quarantine in a hotel, they will fight it.
“I already know lawyers and I am ready to contest this,” said Lapointe.
The government’s quarantine requirement is pending litigation by the Canadian Constitution Foundation (CCF), an organization that campaigns for constitutional rights.
Last month, CCF filed a lawsuit in the Ontario Supreme Court assert the requirement violates the constitutional rights of Canadians, including the Right to enter Canada and the right to freedom.
On March 22 a judge fired CCF’s offer of an injunction suspending the quarantine request for the hotel while the case is on trial.
In his ruling, Judge Frederick L. Myers wrote that denying the injunction is in the public interest by trying to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
However, Myers also said the constitutionality of the hotel quarantine requirement has yet to be determined in court.
PHAC said it cannot comment on a case that is on trial.
