[deanhills]

The United States is trending in that same direction where as yesterday we had 76K new cases recorded. This thing has been so politicized instead of being treated as a health crisis and that's why we own 23% of the global cases and 19% of the global deaths. I think we have nearly the 200 Million doses administered that President Biden wanted within his first 100 days, but I know people first hand who are refusing to get vaccinated.

Yesterday I noticed in an Emirates Airline e-mail advertorial that they welcome passengers who have been vaccinated.  I wonder how long it's going to be for this to become a requirement of travel in addition to being tested.

Last night I was reading through the complicated details of trying to enter Canada.  Is it true that US citizens are screened - like only those eligible may enter Canada? I can just imagine them muttering under their breath, who wants to visit Canada any way - are they nuts?

For all air travellers (who are eligible to enter Canada), including residents and citizens, we will have to book and pay for a Government authorized hotel room for 3 nights BEFORE we depart for Canada.  In addition to getting a negative Covid 19 test result (test has to meet strict Canada guidelines).  We also have to register for a Canada App and complete all the details including submitting all of the required documentation before we commence travel.  

All of the Covid 19 Government authorized hotels are apparently within close distance of the International Airports in Canada.  You get tested, and then have to immediately go to the hotel, and stay in the room for three days or until the test result has been received.  The hotel provides you with 3 meals a day for the three days or until you have received your positive test result.  All of it at your own cost. You're not allowed to leave the room during all of that time - the meals are delivered to your room.  There are officials in the Government authorized hotels who check that people don't leave their rooms.  WOW!  Then that is not where it ends.  You have to go into voluntary self-quarantine for a further 14 days and of course provide all of the details in an app. And you may be called or visited by a Government official to check you're doing what you're supposed to be doing:

The Government of Canada uses the information you provided in ArriveCAN to verify that you:

   arrived at your place of quarantine
   are providing daily symptom reports

You will receive live or automated calls. You must answer calls from 1-888-336-7735 and answer all questions truthfully to demonstrate your compliance with the law.

You will receive email reminders of your quarantine requirements.

You may also receive in-person visits from a screening officer at your place of quarantine.

Designated screening officers are contracted and trained to conduct on-site visits on behalf of the Government of Canada.

To protect your health and safety, screening officers wear personal protective equipment and will practice physical distancing.

Screening officers will:

   ask to speak to you by name
   show their company identification
   show their authorization from the Public Health Agency of Canada, which may be signed by hand or electronically
   ask you for Government-issued identification, such as passport or driver’s license, to confirm your identity
   ask questions to verify you are following the quarantine requirements

Yeaks! Who wants to visit a country and go through all of this? It's too much hard work amd tpo much "personal invasion" of Government. Guess tourism has been killed.  Also, I wonder once they have a record of all of your intimate details through the app and monitoring your stay with the app - what happens with those personal records.  I wonder whether the info ever gets deleted at some time and how they are going to use it for their stats.  Like what protection does visitors have against the storage of their personal information? At what point does it get deleted?

Also note. The above has been legislated and can lead to incarceration or penalties up to 1-million Cdn$ subject to the charge.  Here's a paragraph about the penalties you may face if you break any of the Canada quarantine laws:

Penalties, fines and imprisonment

Violating any instructions provided to you when you entered Canada is an offence under the Quarantine Act and could lead to up to:

   6 months in prison and/or
   $750,000 in fines

If you break your mandatory quarantine or isolation requirements and you cause the death or serious bodily harm to another person, you could face:

   a fine of up to $1,000,000 or
   imprisonment of up to 3 years or
   both

The Contraventions Act provides police (including RCMP, provincial and local police) the authority to enforce the Quarantine Act. Tickets with fines of up to $3,000 may be issues for non-compliance.

Source: https://travel.gc.ca/travel-covid/travel...quarantine

And to top it of course I'm in South Africa. And South Africans or any traveller from South Africa are more or less blocked from most countries because they're worried about a new variant of Covid 19 - thanks to England. Even when you have a negative Covid result you have to stay 14 days in a country that is "ok" before you can fly to those countries who are worried about the variant. This is what it looks like - 120 countries won't allow travellers from South Africa to enter:
https://businesstech.co.za/news/lifestyl...nt-travel/