Is it time for P.E.I. to drop COVID-19 flight exposure notices?

Some in the Island's travel industry are calling on P.E.I. to follow the lead of a few other provinces and stop issuing COVID-19 flight exposure notices.

Any time a traveller on a flight to Charlottetown tests positive, a notice is posted on the P.E.I. government website and in media releases. It includes the flight number, and advice for anyone who was on that flight to get tested if they start having symptoms. 

Paulette Soloman, owner of The Travel Store, worries the notices may leave the wrong impression about the safety of air travel in Canada, particularly now that passengers 12 years of age and older need to be fully vaccinated, and are still required to wear masks on board. 

"I do think that anything that causes fear or concern about travel or flying is a worry for us," said Soloman. "We would like to see any positive steps that can be taken to encourage travel and put our faith in the vaccine and all the other measures being taken on flights."

It's not clear whether any passengers have contracted the virus on a flight to P.E.I. 

But even before vaccination became mandatory, Canada's Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said COVID-19 transmission on flights was "extremely rare." 

She attributed that to airlines' cleaning and safety measures, and effective filtration systems. 

That already-low transmission risk coupled with the new vaccination requirements for air travellers has prompted some provinces, including British Columbia, to stop issuing exposure notices. 

"Travel exposure notifications were a tool used early in the pandemic before highly effective vaccines were available and the risk of transmission in these settings was less well known," the B.C. Centre for Disease Control said in an email to CBC. 

"As vaccination levels rose and travel requirements harmonized across the country (i.e. masks, vaccination passports), the likelihood of in-flight transmission lessened. A recent report suggests there is around one transmission per 1.7 million air travellers."

'It's just a good reminder'

But in her briefing Tuesday, P.E.I. Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Heather Morrison said she thinks the flight notices still hold value. 

"It's just a good reminder," said Morrison. "The flight notifications may make people think, 'oh well, if I'm having some symptoms, and I was on that flight, maybe I should go get tested.'"

Soloman points out travellers are already required to get tested as soon as they land at the Charlottetown Airport, and are advised to get a second test four to eight days after their arrival. International travellers are now required to get that second test on Day 4. 

"I think if we follow those guidelines, we'll be as safe as we possibly could be anyway," said Soloman. "I think the other precautions we're taking are probably doing the job."

Morrison hasn't ruled out dropping flight exposure notices eventually. She said it is an issue she discussed recently with the province's epidemiologist. 

"We may move away from that at some point," she said. "That would certainly be where we'd like to get by the springtime hopefully. It'll be a more a messaging of 'only if you're ill, get tested.' And that would mean fewer public notifications."