© (DAVE CHAN/AFP via Getty Images)Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau speaks during a news conference on COVID-19 situation in Canada from his residence March 17, 2020 in Ottawa.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced more coronavirus restrictions on Friday, including mandatory quarantines.
In addition to the pre-boarding COVID-19 test that Canada already requires, travelers arriving in the country will now be required to take a polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, test at the airport. They then will be required to quarantine, at their own expense, in a hotel room for up to three days while they await the test results.
Trudeau estimates that the total cost to travelers will be more than $2,000. The price tag includes the test, security, food and cost to hotels to keep their employees safe. While people are already required to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival, Trudeau hopes requiring them to stay at a hotel at their own cost will discourage vacations.
"Those with negative test results will then be able to quarantine at home under significantly increased surveillance and enforcement," Trudeau said.
People with positive tests will be required to quarantine in government facilities to ensure they are not carrying the more transmissible variants of the virus.
Additionally, airline service to Mexico and all Caribbean destinations will be suspended until April 30. Trudeau said all of Canada's major airlines have agreed to cancel their flights to those destinations.
"They will be making arrangements with their customers who are currently on a trip in these regions to organize their return flights," Trudeau said.
Beginning next week, all travelers arriving by air are only permitted to enter through four airports in Vancouver, Toronto, Calgary and Montreal. In the future, non-essential travelers will be required to show proof of a negative COVID-19 test before entering at the land border with the U.S.
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