Canadians embrace travel again as COVID-19 border measures ease
Global News
As the Omicron wave began subsiding last month, and as the federal government loosened border measures for air travel in response, many Canadians started to relax.
Lisa Zeltzer watched COVID-19 case numbers rise through the winter and worried the March trip she’d booked to New York City — a vacation her theatre-loving son has been waiting to take for two years — would be cancelled.
As the Omicron wave began subsiding last month, and as the federal government loosened border measures for air travel in response, Zeltzer started to relax.
At least temporarily.
It’s easier for Canadians to take vacations they’ve put off amid the pandemic now that rapid antigen tests can be used for re-entry instead of molecular versions and quarantine requirements have ended for children travelling with fully vaccinated parents.
But as jurisdictions drop COVID-19 restrictions and vaccine passports, the Zeltzers feel they have to be extra cautious before boarding their spring break flight.
“Ironically, it’s actually making me more anxious,” said Zeltzer, an occupational therapist in Toronto. “With the changes and restrictions (lifting) here … my biggest fear is that we’re going to get COVID before we leave.”
Zeltzer and her fully-vaccinated family, which includes her husband, 10-year-old son and six-year-old daughter, take off for their Broadway-filled five-day trip to Manhattan the second week of March. Outside of local road trips, it’ll be their first vacation since before the pandemic.
Even though New York state lifted mask mandates in most indoor settings weeks ago, she said they still plan to wear N95 masks around the big city to mitigate any chance of infection.