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Update: 13 B.C. flights with possible COVID-19 exposure added to BCCDC list

The BC Centre for Disease Control has added several flights with a confirmed case of COVID-19 to its list of public exposures.
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Photo: Getty Images

The BC Centre for Disease Control has added several flights with a confirmed case of COVID-19 to its list of public exposures.

The flights were originally included on a similar warning list maintained by the federal government, but were missing from the BCCDC’s list.

The Richmond News reported the discrepancy Tuesday.

The flights are:

  • Aug. 2: Air Canada flight 210 from Vancouver to Calgary (affected rows not reported)
  • Aug. 3: Air Canada flight 561 from San Francisco to Vancouver (affected rows: 18 to 24)
  • Aug. 3: KLM flight 682 from Vancouver to Amsterdam (affected rows: 38 to 44)
  • Aug. 5: Air Canada flight 296 from Vancouver to Winnipeg (affected rows: 14 to 20)
  • Aug. 5: Lufthansa flight 492 from Frankfurt to Vancouver (affected rows: 19 to 25)
  • Aug. 6: Flair flight 8101 from Vancouver to Toronto (affected rows: 19 to 25)
  • Aug. 7: Air Canada flight 128 from Vancouver to Toronto (affected rows: 35 to 41)
  • Aug. 8: Air Canada flight 128 from Vancouver to Toronto (affected rows: 18 to 23)
  • Aug. 9: Air Canada flight 8328 from Vancouver to Winnipeg (affected rows: 21 to 27)
  • Aug. 10: WestJet flight 720 from Vancouver to Toronto (affected rows: 24 to 30)
  • Aug. 10: Air Canada flight 116 from Vancouver to Toronto (affected rows: 7 to 13)
  • Aug. 11: WestJet flight 720 from Vancouver to Toronto (affected rows: 4 to 11)
  • Aug. 11: Air Canada flight 116 from Vancouver to Toronto (affected rows: 39 to 45)

In total, 13 flights have since been added to the BCCDC’s public exposure webpage.

The federal government removes information older than 14 days – the quarantine period for those who may have been exposed – from its list.

When asked by the News Tuesday, a spokesperson for the Provincial Health Services Authority, which oversees the BCCDC, said the agency believes the discrepancy likely occurred because the passengers who contracted the virus aren’t B.C. residents, and that “the province or territory in which these cases reside notified the Public Health Agency of Canada about the exposure, but not the BCCDC.”

“BCCDC staff are connecting with the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) to ask that they be notified whenever PHAC becomes aware of an exposure on a flight with an origin or destination in B.C. to prevent this situation from occurring in the future," said spokesperson Jane Campbell in an emailed statement.

Typically, said Campbell, flights where exposures may have occurred are identified by the province or territory that’s managing the case during its investigation and contact tracing.

BCCDC adds flights to its public exposures webpage once they are identified as health officials investigate the COVID-19 case, or when the agency is alerted to an exposure on a flight by another province or territory.

The federal government is also warning of COVID-19 exposure on an international flight from the Philippines to Vancouver:

  • Philippine Airlines flight 116 from Manila to Vancouver (affected rows: 56 to 62)

Anyone arriving in British Columbia from outside of Canada to self-isolate and monitor for symptoms for 14 days upon their arrival.