University of Ottawa prof wonders why there's a ban on Canadian flights to India but not to the U.K.

Amir Attaran points out that the COVID-19 caseload is 6500 percent higher in Great Britain than in Canada

by Charlie Smith on July 22nd, 2021 at 8:20 AM

1 of 1 2 of 1

There's been a ban on flights between Canada and India for three months, due to fears about the Delta variant of COVID-19.

The prohibition was recently extended for another month.

But there's no such ban on flights between Canada and the United Kingdom, where COVID-19 cases jumped nearly 41 percent over the past week, according to Reuters.

That's prompted Amir Attaran, a professor of law and and public health at the University of Ottawa, to demand an explanation from Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

"Why did you put a COVID travel ban on...India but not on the UK, where cases are 6500% higher than Canada?" Attaran asked over Twitter. "What explains your choice if not racism?"

https://twitter.com/profamirattaran/status/1418222825446334478

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and U.S. State Department have issued warnings to Americans to avoid travelling to the U.K. due to very high levels of COVID-19 cases.

Global Affairs Canada has recommended that Canadians avoid non-essential travel to the United Kingdom, which reflects the same recommendation for most other countries in the world.

The following countries carry the recommendation "avoid all travel": Iran, Afghanistan, North Korea, Chad, Iraq, Libya, Mali, Somalia, Syria, Yemen, Burundi, Central African Republic, Myanmar, South Sudan, and Venezuela.