Windsor Regional Hospital is keeping its eye on any developments concerning a potential reopening of the US-Canada border.
The latest federal recommendations on COVID-19 testing and vaccination at the border were reviewed by the WRH board of directors at its meeting Thursday night. According to hospital president and CEO David Musyj, the recommendations are in case one of the countries chooses not to extend the border closure past the current expiry date of June 21.
Musyj said the changes would affect non-exempt travellers or those who don't cross the border to work in an essential industry. For those who weren't vaccinated, a pre-departure test and quarantine upon return to Canada are recommended.
"The United States could allow you to go into the U.S., watch that ballgame, but when you come back, if you hadn't had one or two doses in your arm, you're going to be quarantined for 14 days," said Musyj.
For partially-vaccinated people, an arrival test for those returning to Canada will be added to the quarantine, along with a pre-departure test. If you've had both doses, only an arrival test would be required.
Musyj also discussed an announcement by U.S. President Joe Biden, which said that vaccines will be sent to other countries. According to ABC News, six million of them will go to regional partners, including Canada and Mexico.
When those six million doses are divided amongst all the countries listed as partners, Musyj said Canada's share would be about 500,000 doses.
"On a given day, Ontario itself vaccinates about 150,000 people, so if we get 500,000 doses as a nation, Ontario would get about half of that," said Musyj. "We can't look a gift horse in the mouth, meaning that we're not going to say no. It gets us a day and a half closer to where we need to be, but it's not the ultimate solution."
Media reports last week stated that U.S. authorities may consider reopening the border once the current closure expires. However, U.S. government officials have not confirmed those plans, and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said earlier this week that the Canadian government won't reopen the border until at least 70 per cent of Canadians have had at least one vaccine dose.