After being the first province to introduce COVID-19 screening at the border in early April, B.C. will end its provincially led border checkpoints, while federal checks will remain in place.
The Province said it will end its border checks on Saturday, June 20th, but it will keep doing wellness and compliance checks to ensure travellers maintain the mandatory 14-day isolation period.
British Columbia was the first province to implement border checks, and similar methods have been adopted by other provincial governments and the federal government.
“B.C. continues to be a North American leader in the fight against COVID-19, and much credit goes to the hundreds of B.C. public service employees who raised their hands to make sure those arriving home do so safely – both for themselves and for all of us working to keep COVID-19 at bay,” said Premier John Horgan. “The work to put these processes in place in such a short amount of time has been extraordinary, and this would not have been possible if it weren’t for the co-operation and collaboration of the federal government, the Vancouver Airport Authority and our network of public safety partners.”
The Province said that after it implemented its own screening measures, the federal government has been refining theirs for people coming from abroad, including the United States. It added that the federal government will uphold its 14 day isolation period, and those entering from another country must have a self-isolation plan.
“The evolution of federally led border measures has allowed the B.C. public service to step back from border screenings and redeploy our resources to best limit the spread of COVID-19 in British Columbia,” said Mike Farnworth, Minister of Public Safety and Solicitor General. “The hundreds of public servants who deployed to YVR and the land borders – and indeed all British Columbians – should be proud of what we’ve achieved together.”
The B.C. Government said it processed 72,400 passengers coming into the province between April 10th and June 15th, with over 26,100 follow-up calls to check in on those in self-isolation.