The Canadian federal government announced a 30-day ban on passenger flights from India and Pakistan effective Thursday at 11:30 p.m. EST, as Coronavirus cases are surging in the respective countries.
Ministers of health, immigration, transport, public safety, and intergovernmental affairs delivered the update in a joint press conference Thursday evening, as they face pressure to curb variant spread domestically.
Transport Minister Omar Alghabra said they are imposing the temporary ban as more passengers arrive in Canada with positive test results from those two countries.
“Given the higher number of cases of COVID-19 detected in air passengers arriving in Canada from India and Pakistan, Transport Canada is issuing a notice to airmen, or NOTAM, to halt direct passenger air traffic from those countries,” said Alghabra.