A new test comes to Pearson today with help from McMaster University

People wear masks as a precaution due to the coronavirus outbreak as they arrive at the International terminal at Toronto Pearson International Airport in Toronto on Saturday, January 25, 2020. Canadian health officials announced a first presumed case in Ontario after the illness has sickened more than 1,200 people and killed at least 41 in China, the epicentre of the outbreak. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

By Kaitlin Lee

Posted September 3, 2020 9:39 am.

Last Updated September 3, 2020 10:23 am.

A new study out of Toronto is testing the effectiveness of quarantine periods for travellers.

These new test trials are a bid to try and shorten or do away with that mandatory 14 day quarantine period.

Air Canada says it hopes to strike a better balance for travellers and the Canadian economy without sacrificing public health.

CEO at McMaster Health Labs John Gilmour says the one month study starts today.

” Participants will register on incoming international flights, and if they don’t do it in the air, when they land here at the airport. They will get 2 more kits here to take home for testing on day 7 and 14 but their first test will be here right in Pearson”

He says those samples will be tested at a lab at St. Joseph’s in Hamilton.

They will also be watching to see the efficiency of the samples travellers collect themselves.

The goal is to publish in a peer-reviewed journal and grab the attention of policymakers.

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