TORONTO — I have been dreaming about Calgary all week — the airport, specifically.

Starting on Monday, Calgary International Airport will offer incoming international passengers a chance to spend just 48 hours in quarantine, rather that the two long solitary weeks normally mandated. It will do that with free coronavirus tests.

Ed Sims, the chief executive of WestJet Airlines, said the pilot program was “the first piece of good news” that the airline had heard since Feb. 29, when he watched bookings take a nosedive and never recover.

For me, it offered one precious hope, heading into a long, dark Canadian winter: escape. And the Canadian government has acknowledged — through this program and another study it’s funding — I’m not the only one who feels that way.

Like most Canadians, I haven’t stepped into an airport since March, when the country locked itself up like a tight, hardside rollercase. I returned home from Belize bewildered at how quickly the world had changed and promptly canceled a reporting trip to Haiti. The Canadian government not only barred foreigners from entering, but also ordered Canadians to avoid “inessential travel.” To underline what constituted as “essential,” the government slapped on a mandatory two-week quarantine for anyone returning to the country, with fines or potential jail time for those who broke it.

Source: New York Times

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