More flights added to BCCDC list of COVID-19 exposures

A unique look at the Vancouver International Airport. (Chopper 9/Pete Cline)

Vancouver — The B.C. Centre for Disease Control added a dozen more flights to its list of COVID-19 exposures on Saturday, bringing the total added since Monday to more than 70.

All of the flights added to the list last week either took off from or landed at B.C. airports within a week of New Year's Day.

Health officials across Canada strongly discouraged non-essential travel during the holidays, but many elected officials have since come under fire for leaving the country over that period.

Around the globe, as cases of COVID-19 have increased, new, more contagious variants of the coronavirus have been emerging, making it even harder to control the spread of the disease.

The latest flights added to the BCCDC list are as follows.

Travellers arriving in B.C. from international locales are required to self-isolate for 14 days upon landing. Domestic travellers are not required to self-isolate, but health officials have been advising against non-essential travel within Canada for months.

Anyone who was on any of the flights listed should self-monitor for symptoms of COVID-19, seeking testing and self-isolating if any develop. Those who were seated in the listed rows are considered to be at greater risk of contracting the coronavirus due to their proximity to a confirmed infection.

New rules requiring international travellers to present a negative test before being allowed to board flights to Canada took effect at 11:59 p.m., ET, on Wednesday. Travellers ages five and older must present a negative PCR test result taken within 72 hours of their flight's departure to their airline in order to board.

No such rule has been introduced for domestic flights.

The full list of domestic and international flights that have had COVID-19 cases on board can be found on the BCCDC website.