Canada lifting COVID-19 screening requirements for travellers from China, Hong Kong

Starting Friday, air travellers arriving in Canada fromChina, Hong Kong or Macao will no longer have to provide evidence of a negative COVID-19 test taken before their departure.

The federal government introducedthetemporary measure in January in reaction toa surge in the virus in China and the limited availability of epidemiological and other data. Other countries, including the U.S., implemented similar measures.

A statement released by the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) said Canada will no longer have any COVID border measures in place once the testing requirement is lifted.

PHAC said that no new variants of concern have been detected in Canada or internationally since the spike in cases in China began late last year.