TORONTO – After expanding a travel ban to include a total of 10 countries in southern Africa, the government of Canada has made a temporary exception for travelers who meet certain criteria.
Canadians who provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test from an accredited laboratory in South Africa within 48 hours of departure will be allowed to return home within the next week or so, the government announced today. Saturday.
The waiver also allows travelers to fly from Johannesburg or Cape Town to Frankfurt, Germany on a Lufthansa flight departing on or before December 13, and then travel by Lufthansa or Air Canada from Germany to Canada.
The revised rules allow Canadians currently stranded in South Africa to return home. One such traveler is Lara Dodo, a Toronto resident trying to return home to her husband and three children. She recently traveled to South Africa to visit relatives after her father passed away from COVID-19 earlier this year.
“It’s totally surreal,” Dodo told CTV News Channel on Sunday. “Over the past week there has been absolutely no clear information coming from Ottawa about our status with regards to travel, or the clear and coordinated route home, so it has been very stressful.”
The Canadian government first announced an entry ban for all foreign nationals who had traveled through southern Africa on November 26. The law was enacted in response to growing concerns about the contagion. spread of Omicron, the new COVID-19 variant.
The ban initially applied to travelers from seven countries, but has since been expanded to include 10 countries – Botswana, Egypt, Eswatini, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa and Zimbabwe .
While Dodo and her family were able to secure a flight with Lufthansa this week, she said she was still worried about the departure going as planned.
“The real stress is that we get five negative PCR tests,” she said. “And then the next venture, which is a government quarantine hotel.
“The idea of spending time in a government hotel is a bit daunting at this stage, so take it one step at a time.”
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