Already recovered: Travellers who provide a positive COVID-19 molecular pre-entry test result, conducted at least 14 and no more than 180 days (starting January 15, 2022, between 10 and 180 days ago) before their scheduled flight or arrival at the land border crossing, are exempt from arrival testing (starting January 15, 2022, between 10 and 180 days ago)
Travellers arriving by boat
Children under the age of 5
Crew and essential service providers already exempt from arrival testing continue to be exempt

As a fully vaccinated traveller, you can travel to your place of quarantine, including on connecting flights, without waiting for your arrival test results (if selected for testing), unless it is determined at the border that you do not have a suitable quarantine plan.
Who must take an arrival test if selected to do so upon arrival

Upon your entry to Canada by air or at a land border crossing, the border services officer may notify you that you have been randomly selected for a mandatory arrival test.

Requirements for children accompanying parents:

children accompanying a parent selected for a test must follow the same rules as children of all vaccinated travellers
children selected for a test must quarantine, whether or not their parent(s) are not required to do so if they weren't selected

Fully vaccinated travellers are not exempt from mandatory randomized arrival testing.

Find out if your travel is exempt from arrival testing

New travel restrictions came out Dec. 31 for Canadians from Transport Minister Marc Garneau. Beginning Jan. 7, all Canadians regardless of the outcome of their PCR test must quarantine for 14 days upon return. They will be increasing surveillance under the Quarantine Act with penalties up to 6 months in jail and $750,000 in fines for those caught not quarantining. Serious business and the reason I cancelled my Jan. 3 trip. If I was coming for several months it would be a different story.

Your are mistaken, our Transport Minister is now Omar Alghabra and you are not obliged to quarantine if you have received two doses of Covid vaccine. What you are referring to was what was announced LAST YEAR (2020) in december not this year (2021)… you cancelled based on false informations.

8 hours for N-95 is supposed to be the limit, again less if the get wet.

Neither are supposed to be reused.

That said, we know the virus dies on a surface without moisture in 72 hours. So if the mask is not damaged and is allowed to completely dry, it could be reused after 72 hours. They say they could be reused 5 times if they aren’t damaged.

We mask religiously in groups, but avoid groups as much as possible. We have eaten at an indoor restaurant twice since this started. Both times were in NYC, prior to omicron, and vaccination cards were required to enter and they were operating at 50% occupancy.

Not quite——-Not just masking but masking with N-95, or equivalent.

Dear TimMac,

My apologies as I am still a bit confused about the N-95 versus disposable surgical masks debate. Is it true that the N-95 masks protect the wearer of the mask but do not help protect those around the wearer if the wearer is infected? That is what I think I was able to glean from reputable websites such as this Mayo Clinic offering.

Also, many of these same websites recommend that we not purchase the N-95 masks as they need to be reserved for health care providers. However, that may be old information as the supply may have more than caught up with the demand.

Many thanks for your professional insight!

Respectfully submitted,

Padrino

I'm an 80+ year old physician hoping to visit Zihuat on Jan 15 but still very conflicted. Here's a good inspiration from the NY Times this week.

"Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco flew to Florida to be with family, wearing an N95 mask and keeping the vent above his seat open. He brought a rapid test kit that he used when he woke up with a sniffle. He is fully vaccinated and boosted, as was everyone else at the holiday dinner — which, he said, cut the chance of contracting the virus by 95%.

Before Omicron, he said he started thinking and writing about our response to the pandemic. He recognized that “a version of COVID will be with us forever. It will ebb and flow, but it will never go away completely.”
Then it hit him: If he does not do the things that bring him joy now, when he’s vaccinated and boosted and the world is not locked down, he never will.

And, barring some dramatic change, that is no way to live."

Keep in mind he’s vaxxed and boosted, wore an N-95 mask and tested himself. So while he did what he intended to do he took reasonable precautions, including only being around others that were vaxxed and boosted.

"Dr. Robert Wachter, professor and chair of the Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco flew to Florida to be with family, wearing an N95 mask and keeping the vent above his seat open. He brought a rapid test kit that he used when he woke up with a sniffle. He is fully vaccinated and boosted, as was everyone else at the holiday dinner — which, he said, cut the chance of contracting the virus by 95%.

Before Omicron, he said he started thinking and writing about our response to the pandemic. He recognized that “a version of COVID will be with us forever. It will ebb and flow, but it will never go away completely.”
Then it hit him: If he does not do the things that bring him joy now, when he’s vaccinated and boosted and the world is not locked down, he never will.

And, barring some dramatic change, that is no way to live."

First if you are not vaxxed and boosted, it’s probably not a good idea to travel anywhere now. Ideally the vax and booster should be either Pfizer or Moderna. Other vaccines when boosted with either Pfizer or Moderna would come close to that level of protection. Any other combination is not likely to provide much protection. While it is likely the Omicron variant is less severe, it is too early to be confident in this. Even though it may be less severe, since vastly increased numbers are contracting it, the net effect in terms of absolute numbers still seem to be straining many hospitals. Thousands of flights have been cancelled worldwide because aircrews are testing positive leading to a shortage of pilots and flight attendants.
Numbers of positive tests in Zihuatanejo are probably not an accurate measure as they only test symptomatic people. In the states around 40% of positive tests are in asymptomatic patients. Although people say that masking is well followed in Zihuatanejo, our personal experience right after Thanksgiving downtown showed at most 25% of people masked. Subsequent videos showed similar numbers. Although people were outside, given the level contagion of this variant, unmasked groups, even outside, increases risk.
Should you chose to travel, I would do so only with N-95 or KN-95 masks. Well fitting surgical masks are around 65% effective. Most cloth masks are Covid theater. Indoor restaurants would not be a good idea, but luckily that’s easy enough to avoid. Walking everywhere would be safest. Taxis, with masks and open windows, would be relatively safe. I would avoid the combis with multiple people and poor air flow.
Luckily we don’t travel until mid February and are hopeful that things will be more clear by then.

Excellent post containing very wise and intelligent advice & information

Fly back to the US and have a friend pick you up and drive home to Canada. I know several people who did that last spring.

What does that manoeuvre accomplish? Anyone returning to Canada by land has to provide proof of a negative PCR test done within 72 hours of the time one is crossing the border. Believe me, there's no getting around it.

We eat out for breakfast probably 5 times a week. We seldom eat dinner out because we love to cook and have two lovely kitchens.

However, we have really wanted to try the food court, but just haven't been able to bring ourselves to try it.

That said, unless taken in large doses Vitamin D can’t hurt you.

Staying in Zihua gives one plenty of Vitamin D!

Just don't stay out too long in the sun ...

I’d worry much more about unmasked groups on the street than I would about masked waiters in restaurants. It is pretty easy to avoid crowds. I’ve really wanted to try the new “food court” but it’s simply too crowded.

While I agree it’s not good to dwell on the worst case scenario, it’s wise to have a plan Dow what to do if it happens.