Montreal Sends Team to Airport to Jolt Travelers into Isolation

(Bloomberg) --

Montreal is sending health and security staff to the city’s airport to alert passengers they must go into self-isolation, as pressure mounts on Justin Trudeau’s government to take more stringent measures on travel to slow down the coronavirus outbreak.

From 1 p.m. Eastern time, health professionals -- at times accompanied by police -- will await travelers as they exit the airport’s international zone, according to the city’s chief public health officer, Mylene Drouin. While they’re still awaiting masks and thermometers to hand out, they will make sure passengers take the situation seriously.

Mayor Valerie Plante said the move aims to reinforce measures taken by the airport, which is under the jurisdiction of the national government. Plante said there is an imbalance between stricter measures taken by the province -- which has closed everything from schools to libraries and bars -- and a lower sense of urgency for returning travelers.

“I respect the approach of the federal government, which at the moment is of no border closure,” she said. “But for us it’s important, when we talk about public safety recommendations, to be able to inform, detect and isolate -- at least share with arriving people the scope of the issue.” Canada has continued to accept visitors from Europe even after the U.S. clamped down on them.

Travelers must realize self-quarantine shouldn’t be optional, she said.

Provincial premiers including Quebec’s Francois Legault and Ontario’s Doug Ford have called on the federal government to tighten the border. Trudeau will address the media at 1 p.m. in Ottawa as the infection tally rises, reaching at least 324 in the population of about 38 million.

Plante said she wished authorities had handled passengers’ arrival differently “in the past.” She said she spoke to Transport Minister Marc Garneau Sunday and believes the government is taking the situation “very seriously.”

Montreal is the city’s third-busiest airport after Toronto and Vancouver.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sandrine Rastello in Montreal at srastello@bloomberg.net

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Derek Decloet at ddecloet@bloomberg.net

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