Essential travel
#46
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: London, Sth Africa or LAS
Programs: VS Silver, BA Blue - finally; but hotels.com Gold :)
Posts: 1,856
If you can really be assured that all travellers are following the required protocols, then great, they're fine. But you can't. It's easier to ensure/expect that essential travellers are following the protocols (both because there are few of them and because a relatively high fraction of essential travellers are [I would guess] in health-related fields and therefore better aware of both the dangers and the protocols), and the protocols are drastically easier to follow with less crowded airports and airplanes.
Of course, it's hard enough to ensure that people who don't travel follow the protocols. But compounding it by bringing in non-essential travellers is needlessly pouring gasoline on the fire.
Of course, it's hard enough to ensure that people who don't travel follow the protocols. But compounding it by bringing in non-essential travellers is needlessly pouring gasoline on the fire.
I get the local politics, but I don't think there's much science there. People either follow the set local rules and guidelines or they don't ... distancing, masks, hygiene are really not that difficult for the average Canadian who's been awake the last two months.
To me, essential travelers wouldn't intrinsically seem more or less likely to follow BC 60% contact rules either. Again, happy to be persuaded.
To my mind, either you are fit to travel and able to understand and stick to the rules ... or you aren't. Weed out those who aren't/don't and all's good, no?
#47
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: YYF/YLW
Programs: AA, DL, AS, VA, WS Silver
Posts: 5,950
To my mind, either you are fit to travel and able to understand and stick to the rules ... or you aren't. Weed out those who aren't/don't and all's good, no?
And none of this is really BC-specific. You just change the infection rate and contact rate for other jurisdictions. But the logic is basically the same: significant numbers of people travelling makes it very hard for any local understanding of the infection to apply. And to me, having sufficient local understanding of the local danger to ease restrictions locally is far more important than allowing people to travel.