Canada introduces temporary exemption for stranded travellers in South Africa

After expanding its travel ban to include 10 countries in southern Africa, the Canadian government has introduced a temporary exception for travellers who provide a negative PCR test within 48 hours of departing.

Canadians who provide a negative PCR COVID-19 test from an accredited lab in South Africa within 48 hours of departing will be allowed to return home for the next week or so, the government announced Saturday.

The exemption also allows travellers to fly from Johannesburg or Cape Town to Frankfurt, Germany on a Lufthansa flight that leaves on or before Dec. 13, and then travel by either Lufthansa or Air Canada from Germany to Canada.

The amended rules allow Canadians currently stuck in South Africa to return home. One such traveller is Lara Dodo, a Toronto resident who has been trying to get home with her husband and three children. She recently travelled to South Africa to visit relatives after her father passed away from COVID-19 earlier this year.

“It’s completely surreal,” Dodo told CTV News Channel on Sunday. “Over the past week, there's been absolutely no clear information coming from Ottawa as to what our status is in terms of travel, or a clear and co-ordinated pathway home, so it's been stressful.”