A Brief News Commentary by Doug Draper
Posted December 18th, 2021 on Niagara At Large
Well that didn’t last long.
Thanks to rapid spread of Omicron variant, test requirement is back for day-trippers crossing Canada-U.S. border
Want to make a brief trip across the border to Buffalo for some wings at the Anchor Bar or to do a little grocery shopping at a Wegmans.
Well thanks to a rapid spread of a highly infectious Omicron variant of COVID-19, you are going to be required to show Canadian border officers the results of a COVID test again, or you don’t make it back home.
It was just less than three weeks ago – effective November 30th – that the Canadian government dropped the test requirement for Canadians crossing the border for just a day or up to three days for “non-essential” trips.
The requirement was dropped following complaints from political and business leaders on both sides of the border that making a person who must also be fully vaccinated take a test for such a short duration of time didn’t make sense. And the cost of the test – as much as $200 or more per person – was discouraging many people from crossing.
Just when border crossings like the Peace Bridge between Fort Erie, Ontario and Buffalo, New York have re-opened again for non-essential traffic, requirements for crossing are tightening up in wake of surging COVID-19 case counts.
Yet here we are, less than three weeks later, and the Omicron variant is causing a surge in COVID cases on both sides of the border.
With health experts warning that the case counts are expected to be significantly higher through the Holiday Season and on into the New Year, one wonders how long it will be before border crossings between Canada and the U.S. are closed down to all “non-essential” traffic again.
I guess we can just add that to the pile of upsetting news as this pandemic rages on, however unnecessarily due to the significant numbers of people on both sides of the border who refuse to get vaccinated.
Please do yourselves, your family and friends, and the larger community around you a favour and GET VACCINATED!
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Doug Draper, Niagara At Large
Footnote – Canada-U.S. border crossings were first closed to all but “essential” (mostly commercial) crossers in March of 2020 when the COVID-19 virus was setting in across North America.
To read a recent report on the re-introduction of COVID-19 test requirements for day-trippers at Canada-U.S. border crossings, click on – https://globalnews.ca/news/8458969/canada-reintroducing-pcr-test-omicron-travel/
To read a related story posted recently in Niagara At Large, click on – https://niagaraatlarge.com/2021/11/19/effective-nov-30th-testing-requirement-for-short-term-canada-u-s-border-crossers-will-be-dropped/
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