AC partners with McMaster HealthLabs & GTAA on Volunteer COVID Testing at YYZ
 

A great initiative!!
https://aircanada.mediaroom.com/2020...nal-Travellers

Interesting.

Kind of self-selecting, but maybe of a procedural exploration than anything else.

McMaster HealthLabs, Air Canada and Greater Toronto Airports Authority to Conduct a Voluntary COVID-19 Study of Arriving International Travellers

TORONTO, Sept. 3, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - McMaster HealthLabs (MHL), Air Canada and the Greater Toronto Airports Authority (GTAA) today announced that they will partner on a voluntary COVID-19 study of international travellers arriving at Toronto Pearson International Airport. The study's core purpose is to gather information to explore the effectiveness of various quarantine periods for travellers. MHL is a non-profit organization that develops COVID-19 research initiatives and testing solutions to accelerate business recovery during the pandemic.

"MHL's team of scientists and doctors from McMaster University, the Research Institute of St. Joseph's Hamilton, and other Canadian universities and research organizations, generates scientific COVID-19 data to keep Canadians safe and to support a strong economy," said John Gilmour, MHL's Chief Executive Officer. "Our study will provide data to help determine if an airport-based COVID-19 surveillance program is feasible, whether self-collection of COVID-19 testing is effective, and to explore options regarding the 14-day quarantine for international travel. The leadership of Air Canada and the GTAA in supporting COVID-19 research serves as a model for other organizations looking to make evidence-based decisions."

"Air Canada has advocated for the adoption of rational, science-based measures in Canada relating to COVID-19, to allow for the prudent easing of travel restrictions and the mandatory 14-day quarantine, thereby striking a better balance for travellers and for the Canadian economy without adversely impacting public health. We are pleased to co-sponsor this extremely important study, which we believe should provide alternatives to the current blanket restrictions and quarantine," said Dr. Jim Chung, Chief Medical Officer at Air Canada.

"Air Canada believes that issues arising from COVID-19 related to travel can be safely managed using a science-based approach. The study performed by MHL, whose team has years of infectious disease academic research experience, should improve the understanding of the prevalence of COVID-19 among travellers so that safety measures implemented are proportionate to the actual risk."

Air Canada has been at the forefront of the airline industry in responding to COVID-19, including being among the first carriers globally to require customer face coverings onboard and the first airline in the Americas to take customers' temperatures prior to boarding. In May it introduced a comprehensive program, Air Canada CleanCare+, to apply industry leading biosafety measures at each stage of the journey.

"The Greater Toronto Airports Authority is committed to a science-based approach that prioritizes the health and wellbeing of passengers and airport workers. That starts with the collection and analysis of data, led by McMaster HealthLabs through their travel study," said Deborah Flint, President and CEO, GTAA. "We are pleased to co-sponsor this critically important work with Air Canada and welcome the opportunity to work collaboratively with the Government of Canada on this and other initiatives to support the safe resumption of international travel."

The month-long research project has been designed and will be conducted by MHL in accordance with research ethics board-approved scientific protocols. The study will be the largest of its kind and will seek to examine the number and percentage of arriving international travellers who test positive for COVID-19 during the federal government's quarantine period. The findings of the study may be useful to the Government of Canada in its decision-making to control the spread of COVID-19 and in exploring policy options. Air Canada, as the largest Canadian airline operating out of Toronto's Pearson International Airport, is providing resources and support for the study.

McMaster HealthLabs' Scientific Director Dr. Marek Smieja, also a McMaster University professor and the study's co-principal investigator, said: "MHL's study will generate data to help us better understand and communicate the potential risk to the health of Canadians posed by international air travel and the risk of the importation of COVID-19."

"Having scientific data to support decision-making about COVID-19 is critical to keeping Canadians safe as we work to get the economy moving," said Dr. Vivek Goel, co-principal investigator of the MHL study, professor at the University of Toronto and a former CEO of Public Health Ontario.

Under the study:

• Beginning Sept.3, international travellers arriving at Toronto-Pearson Terminal 1 will be invited to take part in the study on a strictly voluntary basis after providing informed consent.
• Consenting participants will provide a sample to MHL researchers before leaving the airport and supply two additional samples that will be self-collected seven and fourteen days after arrival, coinciding with the federal government's quarantine period.
• MHL will have samples analysed for COVID-19 at the Research Institute of St. Joe's Hamilton using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) testing.
• Participants will be notified electronically of the first results within 48 hours. Data collected will remain confidential and will be anonymously aggregated for the purpose of the study.
• An independent data analysis will be conducted at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at the University of Toronto under the supervision of the Principal Investigators who will have responsibility for publishing the results in peer reviewed journals and for supporting MHL in broadly sharing the study's findings.

For more information please see: mcmasterhealthlabs.ca

Not necessarily self-selecting, if the outcome is your choice to do a 14 day quarantine, OR a PCR test in exchange for shortened quarantine (at least till the result is available).

But that's not the choice.

It's do 3 tests and a 14 day quarantine, or do no tests and a 14 day quarantine.

If I fly into YYZ at end of month I'll do the tests, because I think the RESULTS may help reduce the 14 day quarantine, but that's what AC is trying to do - gather data to make a compelling argument to reduce or eliminate the quarantine.

Agreed. I probably will do it too when I return from CUN late September ~ just for my own peace of mind. I WFH these days so 14 day quarantine doesn't bother me much.

Great initiative but quite sad that the airline has to convince the government to let it operate.

The federal government should be the one looking at ideas and possibilities to carefully restart international travel. There's no evidence they're making any effort to reopen. The blanket restrictions and quarantine rules we have today are just lazy.

Picture taken today. Was part of the clean care packages.
https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7c22d0df37.jpg

AC issues a press release on the same day as the study begins and has cards ready to go in in-flight packets? Isn't SOP to issue a PR well in advance of study start date and cards going into packets promoting it? The timing seems so well coordinated.

20% off makes me want to fly in via YYZ regardless of where I actually want to go :p

Good initiative but I don't think that will help to change the government approach for the 14 days quarantine. The government couldn't care less about the facts (otherwise, how could one explains that the rules are exactly the same no matter where you come from, if the origin has 10 times less cases or 20 times more cases than in Canada). They are going to keep the 14 days quarantine anyway because 1- they want to discourage travel as much as possible and 2- they want to show they are tough on travelers (since most Canadians don't travel internationally I am pretty sure a majority of people agree with the 14 days quarantine - basic politics).

Testing is a desperate attempt to save what remains of the industry, to keep it alive until Q2 2021 when a recovery is expected to start.
It appears that some people are unaware of the ongoing problem with the constant arrival of infected people on passenger flights into Canada. The airlines have a growing PR crisis. Maybe it is because the issue has not been highlighted or some do not wish to acknowledge that the airlines deliver new infections to Canada. IMO, if the general public was aware of the extent of the issue, there would be pressure to further curtail international air travel. The impact on domestic air travel would probably kill the industry. How many people on this forum look at the data? It is sobering if just the past week or two are considered for Air Canada.

.International Air Canada flights with confirmed COVID-19 cases (Includes Air India code share)

Flight Departing Destination Flight date Affected rows
AC821 Athens (ATH) (YYZ) 8/20/2020 25 to 30
AC8491 Washington (DCA) (YYZ) 8/23/2020 Unknown
AC1255 Kingston (KIN) (YYZ) 8/24/2020 4 and 12 to 15
AC835 Geneva (GVA) (YUL) 8/26/2020 19 to 25
AC949 Pointe-a-Pitre (PTP) (YUL) 8/22/2020 16 to 22
AC873 Frankfurt (FRA) (YYZ) 8/21/2020 31 to 37
AC 847 Munich (MUC) (YYZ) 8/26/2020 25 to 31
AC849 London (LHR) (YYZ) 8/26/2020 Unknown
AC1255 Kingston (KIN) (YYZ) 8/26/2020 19 to 26
AC43 Delhi (DEL) (YYZ) 8/20/2020 15 to 21
AC992 Mexico City (MEX) (YYZ) 8/22/2020 20 to 26
AI187 Delhi (DEL) (YYZ) 8/23/2020 30 to 36 and 43 to 49
AI1143 New Delhi (DEL) (YVR) 8/26/2020 36 to 42
Source: https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...html#wb-auto-5

- The Federal government has not been forthcoming on the situation.
- Keep in mind that there is not a unified, common test and track program in Canada. When an airline passenger is identified as exposed, the federal public health authorities DO NOT advise the passenger to be tested. Health care is a closely guarded provincial mandate and it is a provincial responsibility.
- The voluntary isolation requirement efficacy is unproven.

The situation is just as serious on domestic routes. The number of infected people flying around Canada is too large to show. Here is an indication of just the impact for one province, British Columbia since the start of the pandemic.
http://www.bccdc.ca/Health-Info-Site...es-Current.pdf

One of the worst kept secrets in the airline industry is that the voluntary isolation measures are not working in Canada and that the airline screening measures are ineffective. Air Canada is running out of time to restore consumer confidence. The testing program is a desperate attempt to protect what remains of the business.
If the testing can be shown effective then a key the obstacle to reopening for winter holidays will be removed and negative press like this will be avoided;
https://fortune.com/2020/06/24/airli...rus-infection/
https://toronto.ctvnews.ca/more-plan...from-1.5076714

Well, there are more cases linked to a single karaoke bar in Quebec than in all international flights during the last two weeks... This is why we need science based facts on: 1- what is the risk a traveler carry the virus compared to the random person in the street and 2- what is the risk to be infected during a flight compared to day to day activities (for this one, it looks pretty low from what I read until now - probably because of the mandatory masks, some health checks even if they are incomplete, and filtering of the air in the cabin).

It is not voluntary, it is mandatory, although it is a self-isolation generally at home so it is possible it is not respected by everyone.

At this point, COVID has visited, and remains in almost every country including Canada. It is either endemic, or well on the way to becoming so. If one looks at cases (which are incredibly decoupled from actual harm such as hospitization, ICU entry, and death), one sees continual case rebounds as soon as a nation increases social interaction to reduce the other kind of harm (economic damage, losing homes, not being able to feed children, etc).

The average age of hospitalization is 70+, and average age of death is 80+ -- the vulnerable community has been identified in many retrospective studies (all this talk about comorbidities is not junk science). The root "social cause" of harm is transmission to the vulnerable. So we can ask -- are recent flyers passing COVID directly in one step (or indirectly in only a few degrees) to the vulnerable? Or is it more likely old age homes cases are coming from well-established community transmission (care workers and non-flying visiting family).

My second question would be: Are the % of infected passengers on flights arriving into Canada really greater than the % of infected in the general population -- of the departure country, or within Canada? Are the flyers a large component of new case loads?

I am pretty sure travel between international communities is no longer a major factor in case loads, hospitalizations, re-transmission, or death. I recently saw some stats for a country, that travel-related COVID had dropped under 1% of case load [CBC: https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/can...tial-1.5710005 : "In February, 42.2 per cent of COVID-19 cases were associated with international travel. That number dropped to a low of 0.4 per cent in May, and has since inched up to 3.2 per cent for the first three weeks of August.."] So the article is saying 96.8% of cases are transmission in the Canadian community, unrelated to flyers.

COVID is already in Alberta. When someone carries it from Vancouver or Paris, really -- what's the difference? Especially if they are a Canadian and their return home cannot be blocked. Is Air Canada supposed to park planes for a year?

Canada isn't in the same position as NZ. It's worth noting South Korea and Australia tried a model similar to NZ, and are discovering a population with .00001% COVID soon has more, and the current cases in Melbourne are not people who flew in. The cat is out of the bag.

The current best practice is for vulnerable people to isolate themselves from the community, especially from flyers or meat-packers or churchgoers... and please no singing on planes.

Only.if YYZ is your destination
 

Arrived internationally from TLV on way to YVR...told I do not qualify

Masks have been mandatory on Air Canada since April and we still see the infections spreading. Air filtering doesn't help when one is exposed to an infected person in an adjacent seat for 1 hour plus. Ask an infectious disease expert if h/she would sit next to an infected passenger. In an ideal world, testing would get rid of some of these people before they got on the aircraft. Until then, IMO the strategy is to hush up the extent of the problem.

Do you really believe that the majority of travelers are compliant with the regulations? Sure they are mandatory, but there is no enforcement. The karaoke bar incident you referenced was an example of non compliance. Many airline passengers are no different. We saw from the return of travelers in March and April that compliance was poor. The reason why the Canadian government put so many people into government paid isolation facilities is because they knew people were not compliant. The emphasis for testing had its start at that time because it had been hoped that passengers could be tested upon arrival. Testing is just not fast enough and passengers won't accept delays.

The current format of testing will allow for the collection of data to see if the tests even work, but it's a backwards approach to the problem. I am all for testing, but this is smoke and mirrors. The airline industry is trying to get out in front of a crisis that will explode once the general public understands the large number of infections that attach to international flight arrivals. I get it, that it will be impossible to do anything about the domestic flight risk. Testing may help.

The winter international travel season is desperately needed by the airlines so they will use whatever gimmick they can to buy time or to convince the public that flying is safe. We will soon see the suggestion of travel bubbles to designated safe countries, with passengers flown there courtesy of Canadian airlines.
A testing program will support the undertaking.

This forum is a hostile audience when it comes to any hint of a curtailment of flying. Unfortunately, that curtailment on international flights will come if the ineffective screening and isolation enforcement in Canada is not addressed. If you want to see how a proper testing international travel program works, look at Thailand. Mandatory test prior to flight, mandatory 14 day isolation at an approved supervised facility and mandatory testing at the end of the isolation. Canadians won't accept that. The testing should have been initiated months ago. People forget, but the airlines were opposed to testing and other screening measures when they were first suggested. We can thank the airline employee unions for many of the current enhanced hygiene measures and the unions were asking for screening tests months ago.

So we have evidence that one single case resulted in 50 infections (and counting) in a Karaoke bar where nobody care about any social distancing, mask, and were doing high risk activity (singing).
As far as I know, there is no evidence of anyone infected in a flight. Please provide me a link if I am wrong. You believe, as the virus is very contagious, that there should be 10 or 30 resulting infections in flights for every positive person who board but this is very unlikely, because no one has never been found.
You ask me if I would seat for +1 hours next to a sick person ? Certainly not. But I can manage the risk to seat near a person who wear a mask, has not been tested positive recently, has no obvious symptom, no fever, and has as much chance as anyone in the country I am living in to carry the virus, especially in an environment when the air is filtered every 3 minutes.
By the way, what is the difference between a domestic flight and an international flight coming from a country with the same or a lower infection rate as we have in Canada (except maybe a longer flight time) ?

And if domestic flights are same (low) risk as international flights, then what about a cross-town commute on public transport in a Canadian city?

How dare the cities get their public transport back up and running! My guess is buses and trains have not been majorly implicated in infectiousness.
Never mind people get on/off the bus without any contact tracing....

Although it's sad that it's left up to the airline to fund a program like this, I certainly appreciate the effort. And if this is going to push the government to start looking at rapid testing as a more surgical approach to dealing with the long-term effects of the pandemic, that's great. I also think it's pretty classy that they're offering some goodies for volunteers (a discount code, Crave, Pressreader). Although you'll be stuck at home unable to use the discount code, access to otherwise paid for TV, newspapers and magazines will come in handy during your 336 hours of forced isolation. Don't think it was expected, but nice nonetheless.

I will point you to this study: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/26/11/20-3353_article

Thanks for the study, I agree, this is a possible, even probable case of someone infected during a flight. That's said, if we look at the detailed number, they were 299 passengers, with 6 asymptomatic cases (which were most certainly contaminated in Italia before the flight) and it resulted to one single person contaminated - and likely by touching a contaminated surface... This actually reinforce the idea that the risk of flying is pretty low. Probably way lower than a lot of day to day activity and not something significant in the daily cases...

Would you mind sharing with everyone where we can find evidence of the large number of infections that attach to international flight arrivals?

We know ways it spreads more (singing and yelling being one of them - hence the karaoke bar situation). So perhaps we can open up in smart ways and help the economy recover while minimizing the damage virus does. Have I flown since the pandemic started? Yes. Did I take precautions? Yes. Mask on, sanitize like crazy, and avoid using the bathroom. I did my quarantine time when I returned to Canada. Let's look at a reasonable middle ground, as opposed to the two extremes. I would like to see Canada require a false COVID test before you are allowed to board (usually 5 days or 48 hours before departure). There are also 15 minute saliva tests now. If Canada required them before check-in from high risk passengers that would make sense as well.

The following response has been edited to avoid being labeled as '"off topic". The complete response has been provided to the questioner.

For the period of August 21 to August 30; 37 international flights entered Canada carrying one or more confirmed infected people. https://www.canada.ca/en/public-heal...html#wb-auto-6 There were most likely pax who are infected but undetected, but I will ignore that reality to avoid a disagreement here.
For example, on the Air Canada AC1255 Kingston (KIN) to Toronto (YYZ) flight of 24 August we know that there were a minimum of 2 confirmed infected passengers.

From these two infected passengers we can reliably extrapolate how many people will be directly infected and indirectly infected. There is a substantial body of research pre Covid19 that shows this. In respect to a SARS related virus, the classic illustration from the SARS crisis of 2003 shows: On a March 2003 flight from HKG to PEK, one solitary passenger on the 3 hour flight infected 18 passengers and 2 FAs. 1/2 the victims were seated within 2 rows of this person. The other 1/2 were more than 2 rows away. There are other studies which show similar impact.

Therefore, it is likely that these 37 international flights will be implicated in hundreds of infections.

Please read this post as someone who is an expat living in SFO and has lost a parent in the middle of this pandemic in YOW.

I applaud AC actually pushing research on this topic.

Its about the basic loss of freedom....we have to move forward people.....AC is helping with that.....if this study shows a quarantine is not necessary in lieu of testing....Canada should move thier policy.....

Emphasis added - "since most Canadians don't travel internationally I am pretty sure a majority of people agree with the 14 days quarantine - basic politics" . . . What's amazing is how in favour Canadians are at keeping the quarantine in place. It affects a small percentage of the population and also - there are so few stories in the news which support the other side. I guess Canadians - living in such a big country - don't feel closed in.

The quarantine period is not going to be lifted until the pandemic is over and health officials are on record as saying this. I don't think they want a solution or any exemptions because people are adamantly opposed to the quarantine.

Emphasis on "if". This isn't "let's go back to normal", it's "let's actually collect data so we can properly analyze the impact of international travel".

There is way too much fear-mongering. Collect the data. Analyze it. Don't just make stupid decisions.

If you're fine having someone fly YYC-YVR without a quarantine but not SYD-YVR, you've demonstrated a complete and utter lack of logic and health safety.

An origin-risk-based quarantine might make sense. A blanket quarantine for all flights would make more sense than the current rules. But the current rules are illogical and either useless or unsafe (or both), and that can't be fixed without collecting data.

Having been tested multiple times of late, here are my thoughts.

Back in July at a drive-thru testing site I was given a throat swab and the negative test results took four days

Over the past two weeks, due to my travel history, I have been tested twice upon arrival at FCO courtesy of the local Lazio region with immediate results in 30 mins.

Canada needs to step up the testing upon arrival at all four airports receiving international arrivals and retesting those same people four or five days later.

Please note that off topic wider virus matters have been edit from several posts so let's please confine the discussion to this AC test.

tcook052
AC forum moderator

I am arriving internationally to YYZ however it is via YUL. So I will be clearing customs in YUL and catching a domestic flight to Toronto. Would I qualify? I’m sure the screening at YYZ will be in the separate international arrivals area, but just want to confirm. I’d really like to participate. My CDG to YYZ flight got cancelled, so have no choice but to connect through Montreal.

Please can you write to your MP and copy various ministers about your experience. We need the government to change the policies to incorporate testing on arrival.

... and while we're at it get somebody to shove a hot poker up Health Canada's backside who seem 100% fixated on PCR testing and refuse to approve blood and saliva tests that can give results in 15-30 minutes.

reading a couple more articles on this volunteer GTAA study really gives me the impression that really hope to get data from healthy people, uninfected, to show that the 14 day quarantine could be lifted.

​​​​One flaw is that I think those volunteering for a test or vaccine tends to end up with a majority of people who have a heightened sense of awareness of covid news and who are already taking more precautions, rather than testing a random mix of the general public

The non believers who just dial it in and rip masks off when they step off the plane or nobody is looking are not going to be the ones volunteering for this post-airport arrival test. Yet, that is the group statistically more likely to be infected or incubating an upcoming infection.

That was kinda my point wayyy upthread. This is self-selection.

Now the motivation behind the traveler participating could be everything from simply reducing hassle to hypochondria, but your hypothesis about these people likely being more cautious in general sounds valid to me.

I just did it earlier today arriving from CUN. I registered on my phone upon landing and the whole process was fairly seamless: showing the guy the SMS confirmation, click into the link and enter the covid kit code, bring the kit to a booth, self-administered test with someone guiding you, done and bring 2 more kits home. Fingers crossed it will be negative lol

I got a survey from Ekos yesterday.
It was asking what I thought about reducing the 14 day quarantine.
Would I support reducing/eliminating the quarantine if there was rapid testing on arrival.
There were some comparisons made to Germany and the "success" they've had opening their borders.

Not sure if the survey was sponsored by the government or an airline.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/air...-kit-1.5745976

Air Canada has ordered 25,000 testing kits that can detect COVID-19 in someone in as little as five minutes, a key hurdle for an industry that's desperately trying to make it safe and possible for travellers to fly again.

The first batch of tests will be for employee volunteers, now that the devices by Abbott Laboratories have been approved for use in Canada by federal health and safety authorities, the airline said Thursday.

"five minutes"



And that's "about" 13 minutes. So I expect these are the standard 15 minute tests.

What I find more interesting is the testing on arrrival:

So only 20% of the eventual-positives were not caught immediately, and they were all caught after 7 (not 14) days.

Granted, this is a self-selecting set of people who clearly treat the virus more seriously, but if these results hold up to more scrutiny, AC will have data (as opposed to general fear-mongering) to lean on the government.