Canada: Alberta's Covid19 Testing Pilot Program is Successful-Reduces Quarantine Period of Travellers
Canada's Alberta province has been implementing a pilot program, Covid-19 Border Testing Pilot Program, for people arriving in Canada from various countries across the globe.
The trail program is currently running at Calgary International Airport, and the Coutts border crossing in southern Alberta, and it is successful in reducing the mandatory self-isolation period(14 days) of passengers.
The Passengers are appreciating Alberta's efforts in testing and control of Covid 19. The province is the first and only region to implement this pilot Corona testing model that shortens quarantine days.
The health staff will do covid19 tests to the passengers at these two border points and latter have to undergo self-isolation until the test results arrive. The results will be reported in one or two days.
If the results are negative, the respective travellers are allowed to break the quarantine. But, they are advised to check their symptoms and get tested again after 6 or 7 days.
Another good development is the number of positive cases recorded in this program are very low. More than 14000 passengers have undergone covid19 tests till 10th December. Only 1.4 % were tested positive after the initial test and 0.7 % after the 2nd test.
People who are arriving in Canada from abroad are advised to register their names in the portal for Covid-19 tests which will be done upon entering the border. It is to be noted, they are required to register 5 days prior to their journey.
The passengers who haven't registered their names in this covid 19 testing pilot program have to undergo 14 days quarantine.
Elated with the positive outcomes, The Alberta government is planning to implement this model in some other border points as well in 2021, Edmonton International Airport is the top priority.