TORONTO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2021) The premier of the Canadian province of Ontario has asked the Federal government to suspend the arrival of international students to the province and the request will be formalized later in the day, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Friday.
"Premier [Doug] Ford asked that we suspend the arrival of international students," Trudeau told reporters. "We'll be reaching out to their officials today to formalize that request."
Ford made the request during Trudeau's call with provincial premiers on Thursday evening amid a third wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Ontario has been among the hardest-hit provinces during the latest wave, which has forced the province to implement additional coronavirus-related public health restrictions, including an extension of the province-wide stay-at-home order and checkpoints at provincial borders.
Ford has repeatedly called on the federal government to curtail the number of entrants into Ontario, going so far as to suggest a complete halt of arrivals from international destinations. The federal government is now appearing to, at least partially, acquiesce to the premier's demand. At the same time, Trudeau noted that the number of cases related to international travel is minuscule and that Canada already has some of the strongest border measures in the world.
Ontario is reporting nearly 4,000 people testing positive for the novel coronavirus daily and the province has recorded 463,364 cases and over 8,000 virus-related deaths since the onset of the pandemic a year ago. An expert panel advising the Ford government projects that daily caseloads could, surpassing earlier projections, even with increased public health measures in place, swell to over 15,000 by the middle of June.
