Air Canada will cancel all flights from Canada to Mainland China until April as the number of cases of coronavirus continues to rise.
On Tuesday, Air Canada announced that its flights to Beijing and Shanghai — which were suspended throughout February — will remain unavailable until April 10.
“Air Canada will continue to monitor this evolving situation closely in consultation with the Public Health Agency of Canada, Transport Canada and Global Affairs and will adjust its schedule as appropriate,” Air Canada said in a statement.
Air Canada also announced it will be suspending its daily Toronto-Hong Kong flights until April 30. Flights will still be available from Hong Kong to Vancouver.
The move comes at a time when health officials have increased preventative measures as novel coronavirus continues to spread around the world.
Currently, there are over 79,000 cases of coronavirus confirmed globally, most of which are in China.
Health Canada officials are warning that the government cannot stop the spread of the virus into Canada if the virus becomes a global pandemic.
On Monday, Canadian Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Theresa Tam said that stopping coronavirus from entering Canada is becoming unlikely.
“These signs are concerning, and they mean that the window of opportunity for containment, that is for stopping the global spread of the virus, is closing,” she said.
Canada currently has 11 cases of coronavirus, seven in British Columbia and four in Ontario.
Canada’s most recent confirmed case of coronavirus was a young woman who recently arrived in Toronto from China.
On Tuesday Foreign Affairs Minister François-Philippe Champagne told Canadians to watch for travel advisories before making international trips.
“Make sure you check before you go. That’s the best advice I can give,” he said.
