Federal quarantine site in Halifax holding 8 people as of Monday
A hotel near the Halifax airport has become the temporary home for individuals from outside Canada who arrive in Nova Scotia without a place or plan to isolate themselves for the mandatory 14 days.
As of Monday, there were eight people being housed at this "federally designated quarantine site," according to André Gagnon, communications advisor with the Public Health Agency of Canada.
One of those was the U.S. citizen who was allowed into Canada on a student visa on June 26.
Nova Scotia's Chief Medical Officer of Health Robert Strang said that man tested positive for the COVID-19 virus on Sunday. He was told to be tested after Nova Scotia officials were notified he had been denied entry to Prince Edward Island for failing to have the proper paperwork to enter the province.
He returned to Halifax the day he arrived in the country, but did not self-isolate.
Travellers in quarantine provided with food, essentials
Those being held under the federal Quarantine Act are provided transportation to the designated holding facility and are looked after at taxpayer's expense. At the end of the 14-day period, travellers return to their regular living quarters.
"Travellers who are required to quarantine or isolate in a designated quarantine site are not required to pay for the costs associated with their stay or transportation to the facility," wrote Geoffroy Legault-Thivierge, spokesperson for the Public Health Agency of Canada. "When travellers are in a quarantine facility, they are provided with three meals daily and other essentials."
"Travellers also receive regular health assessments throughout their quarantine period."
According to the agency, there are 13 quarantine sites in nine cities across Canada.
As of July 6, there are 285 travellers in federally designated quarantine sites — 45 in Vancouver, 11 in Calgary, 20 in Winnipeg, 140 in Toronto, 60 in Montreal, one in Fredericton, and eight in Halifax.
No tickets in Nova Scotia
Those who fail to self-isolate or do not follow mandatory quarantine requirements are subject to fines and/or up to six months jail time but most people have received warnings or been detained.
"As of July 6, eight tickets have been reported (to the Public Health Agency of Canada) to be issued under the Contraventions Regulations for offences under the Act. In addition, 25 verbal warnings and four written warnings were reported to have been issued for offences under the Act," wrote Gagnon in an email to CBC.
None of those tickets have been issued in Nova Scotia.
The federal government is refusing to provide any information about where the people they have quarantined have come from, or how they came to the attention of authorities, citing reasons of privacy and confidentiality.
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