Canada. Today the Canadian Government announced rules further restricting international travel. According to the government’s press release:
- Flight suspension. All flights to and from Mexico and Caribbean countries suspended until April 30, 2021, in effect as of Sunday, January 31, 2021.
- Routing Through Four Canadian Airports. Effective midnight (11:59 PM EST) February 3, 2021, in addition to proof of a negative pre-departure test, all international flights will land at only four airports: Montréal-Trudeau, Toronto Pearson, Calgary, and Vancouver. The new restrictions will include scheduled commercial passenger flights arriving from the United States, Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and South America, which were exempted from the previous restriction.
- Testing and Hotel Stay Upon Arrival. All arriving air travelers must reserve a room in a government-approved hotel for three nights at their own cost, and take a COVID-19 molecular test on arrival at their own cost. The timing for implementation of this requirement has not been made clear at the time of this writing.
- Testing for Land-Crossing. Travelers crossing by land will be required to test negative 72-hours prior to arrival, with limited exceptions such as commercial truckers.
United Kingdom. The United Kingdom has expanded its coronavirus travel ban to include the UAE, Burundi, and Rwanda. Travelers who have been in or transited through any of the banned countries in the previous 10 days are banned from entry. The ban does not apply to returning British or Irish citizens or third country nationals with UK residence rights; instead they will be required to self-isolate for ten days. Effective today January 29, the United Kingdom also has banned direct passenger flights to and from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).