A significant number of travellers who recently returned from sunny destinations to Montreal and Quebec City were exposed to the novel coronavirus because there was at least one confirmed case of COVID-19 on board their flight.
The list of international flights of concern to public health officials in Canada has continued to grow since the start of January, according to data compiled by the federal government in its update on Saturday.
As recently as last week, Air Transat had two flights where all of its passengers were exposed to COVID-19, but this time from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
These planes landed in Montreal on Jan. 10 and 13.
Ten days earlier, it was six rows of passengers on an Air Transat flight arriving from the Haitian capital who were exposed to COVID-19.
Quebecers who travelled to Mexico, Cuba, the United States and France also need to watch for symptoms a little more closely because they were exposed to the virus when they returned home.
This is particularly the case for passengers on three Air Canada flights from Cancun, Mexico, which landed in Montreal from Jan. 3-5.
Passengers in a total of 27 rows were exposed.
Other travellers returning from Fort Lauderdale, Florida were also exposed aboard six other Air Canada and Air Canada Rouge flights up to last week.
Two Sunwing flights, from Varadero (Cuba) and Cancun, also carried people who had COVID-19, on Jan. 3, until the aircraft landed in Montreal.
This was also the case for the passengers of an Air Transat flight returning to Quebec City from Cancun, on Jan. 6.
Passengers in six rows are affected.
Four flights from Paris were also affected by carriers Air Canada and Air France on Jan. 5 and 6.
In short, these are just a few recent examples, among a larger number of monitored flights across Canada, demonstrating the importance for travellers to respect the 14-day quarantine after their arrival in Canada.
Here is a list of some of the international flights with confirmed COVID-19 cases:
Air Canada, AC989, from Cancun to Montreal, Jan. 3, 2021, rows 18 to 21 and 43 to 51
Air Canada, AC1883, from Cancun to Montreal, Jan. 4, 2021, rows 20 to 26
Air Canada, AC989, from Cancun to Montreal, Jan. 5, 2021, affected rows 22 to 28
Air Transat TS467, from Cancun to Quebec City, Jan. 6, 2021, rows 19 to 24
Air Canada, AC901, from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal, Jan. 6, 2021, rows 22 to 28 and 37 to 43
Air Canada, AC901, from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal, Jan. 10, 2021, unknown rows
Air Canada/Rouge, AC1607, from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal, Jan. 4, 2021, rows 21 to 27
Air Canada/Rouge, AC1601, from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal, Jan. 4, 2021, rows 20 to 26
Air Canada/Rouge, AC1601, from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal, Jan. 5, 2021, affected rows 3 and 12 to 15
Air Canada/Rouge, AC1607, from Fort Lauderdale to Montreal, Jan. 6, 2021, rows 1 to 4 and 13 to 19
Air Canada/Rouge, AC1987, from Punta Cana to Montreal, Jan. 10, 2021, rows 33 to 39
Sunwing, WG653, from Varadero to Montreal, Jan. 3, 2021, rows 20 to 30
Sunwing WG538, from Cancun to Montreal, Jan. 3, 2021, affected rows 19 to 25
Air Transat, TS467, from Cancun to Quebec City, Jan. 6, 2021, rows 19 to 24
Air Transat, TS663, from Port-au-Prince to Montreal, Jan. 3, 2021, rows 44 to 49
Air Transat, TS663, from Port-au-Prince to Montreal, Jan. 10, 2021, all rows
Air Transat, TS665, from Port-au-Prince to Montreal, Jan. 13, 2021, all rows
Air France, AF344, from Paris to Montreal, Jan. 5, 2021, rows 14 to 20
Air France AF344, from Paris to Montreal, Jan. 6, 2021, rows 27 to 33
Air Canada, AC871, from Paris to Montreal, Jan. 5, 2021, rows 18 to 23
Air Canada, AC871, from Paris to Montreal, Jan. 7, 2021, rows 36 to 42
