As federal officials consider a ban on flights from a country dealing with a massive COVID-19 outbreak, a variant first discovered in India is now in B.C. It’s a massive humanitarian crisis: India reported more than 300,000 cases of the disease in a single day. And it has some experts wondering whether it’s time to suspend flights to and from the country for the time being. Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says it’s under consideration in Canada, and travel restrictions are already in place in some countries. On the West Coast, three recent flights from India were added to the B.C. Centre for Disease Control’s list of flights with possible COVID-19 exposures. Looking back a little further, eight of 13 international flights with cases on board which have landed in Vancouver since April 11 have been from India. At least one doctor says he thinks a flight ban should be considered as India deals with its second wave. B.C.’s health minister said the province has had concerns with the implementation of the federal quarantine rules. India is a concern not only because of the mutation, but also because of a massive resurgence in COVID-19 cases.
Travel & Leisure
In the spring of 1943, Swiss chemist Albert Hofmann took a bicycle trip like no other. While working in the pharmaceutical department of Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, Switzerland, where he was hoping to develop a circulatory and respiratory stimulant, the 32-year-old first synthesized the compound D-lysergic acid diethylamide, or LSD, in 1938. Five years after creating that first batch, Hofmann returned to the compound for further experimentation. After producing a small amount of LSD, his workday was soon interrupted as he began experiencing “unusual sensations,” he wrote in his 1979 memoir LSD: My Problem Child. Feeling slightly dizzy, and remarkably restless, Hofmann decided to call it a day. It was the correct decision. Upon arriving home, he had entered a “not unpleasant intoxicated-like condition, characterized by an extremely stimulated imagination.” When he closed his eyes, he entered a dreamlike state and for about two hours, he “perceived an uninterrupted stream of fantastic pictures, extraordinary shapes with intense, kaleidoscopic play of colours.” He hypothesized that while handling the compound in his lab, he may have accidentally absorbed LSD through his skin.
As India’s capital went into a serious lockdown, extended its curfew, closed schools and tried to recover from a record 23,000 new cases — many of them the result of a double-mutant variant — we welcomed more flights from Delhi to Canada. Yes, travel inside of Canada may be restricted but outside the country, it is not. Want to hop over from Ottawa, Ont., to Gatineau, Que., for some cheap beer? You can’t do that but you can hop on a flight to Delhi for some cheap whiskey with a side of double-mutant variant COVID.
It’s a highway that has been talked about for 20 years but never built. The badly-needed highway is opposed by vested interests — many in the media — but supported by the public. The GTA West Corridor often called Hwy. 413 now, was under consideration by PC and Liberal governments from 2002 until the Wynne government shelved the project in February 2018.
Two men died after a Tesla vehicle, which was believed to be operating without anyone in the driver’s seat, crashed into a tree on Saturday night north of Houston, authorities said. “There was no one in the driver’s seat,” Sgt. Cinthya Umanzor of the Harris County Constable Precinct 4 said.
There’s been a lot of talk about vaccine passports a people look at the issue of post-pandemic travel. But what about people who either choose not to or can’t be vaccinated? What recourse do they have? They may experience travel and mobility issues, especially internationally, says Nainesh Kotak, founder of Mississauga-based Kotak Personal Injury Law.