THUNDER BAY — Passengers departing through Thunder Bay Airport may have to undergo additional screening for COVID-19.
Canadian airlines are introducing fever checks for passengers.
Air Canada has announced plans to implement the practice Friday, using a handheld device five centimetres from customers' foreheads.
A WestJet spokesperson said the airline is currently conducting trial passenger temperature checks in Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver, but not yet in Thunder Bay.
Air Canada has said it will turn away passengers with temperatures higher than 37.5C.
Normal body temperature is 37 C, but the human body temperature can fluctuate for a variety of reasons.
For this reason, experts have cautioned that fever scanners aren't necessarily a reliable way to determine if someone is ill.
On its website, Air Canada describes its current protocol for dealing with passengers who may be infected:
Each case is different. However, we have a general protocol that when a passenger who appears unwell attempts to check-in or board an aircraft, our agents will make inquiries of the customer in regard to their health. This can include consultation with our own Medical Desk and or a third-party health provider. In cases where we have grounds to believe someone may be unfit to travel, we can also deny the customer boarding for their own well-being, and that of other customers and employees.
Health checks at all Canadian airports became mandatory on March 30.
No one is permitted to board if they show any symptoms of COVID-19 or if they have been refused boarding in the previous 14 days for a medical reason related to COVID-19.
Individuals with suspected COVID symptoms will not be allowed to board any flight until 14 days have passed, or until they can present a medical certificate confirming their symptoms are not COVID-related.
Since April 20, the federal government has also mandated that all air travellers wear face coverings.
Arriving passengers at Thunder Bay Airport are greeted by signs, "pretty well everywhere," an airport spokesperson said, advising them to self-isolate for two weeks as a precaution.
Information brochures from the Thunder Bay District Health Unit are also provided, urging individuals with potential COVID symptoms to contact the TBDHU for assessment for testing.
Those meeting the testing requirement – which is one or more symptoms of COVID-19 – will be scheduled for tests either at the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre, through Superior North EMS's community paramedicine program, or at one of the district assessment centres or local nursing stations.
Thunder Bay Airport CEO Ed Schmidtke said there was one incident in March where an incoming passenger's health status prompted concern.
"A fellow came off a flight with a fever. We kept him as isolated as we could until EMS came and got him," he said.
Schmidtke said the paramedics had full personal protective equipment, but it was confirmed later that the man had suffered severe vertigo on an aircraft that had flown through particularly bad turbulence.
He added that he's not aware of any passengers travelling through the airport presenting with COVID-19 symptoms since precautions were put in place.
Passenger volume at Thunder Bay Airport plummetted to about 10 per cent of normal in March.
Tbnewswatch asked the TBDHU if contact tracing is done on any arriving passengers who test positive for COVID-19.
Spokesperson Lance Dyll, in response, said "Our public health nurses would follow the person's movement no matter where they were, and we could work with the public health unit in that area as well. Alternatively the person may have been identified by another health unit previously as a close contact and would be contacted by them before symptoms even develop."
