COVID-19-positive man charged after showing fraudulent test at Pearson airport
Posted February 10, 2021 4:12 pm.
Last Updated February 10, 2021 4:24 pm.
Peel police have charged a man after he allegedly presented a fraudulent negative COVID-19 test at Toronto Pearson International Airport.
In a release, police said the incident took place on February 8 around 7:00 p.m.
A Canadian Border Services Agency (CBSA) officer was conducting checks at Pearson when a man’s negative COVID-19 document was revealed to be fraudulent.
Officers said it turned out to be a positive test result.
The 29-year-old man from Stratford was arrested and charged for unlawfully forging and using a document.
Peel Regional Police say someone tried to pass off
a fraudulent #COVID19 document at Pearson Airport. The negative COVID-19 document was actually a positive test result. A 29 year old Stratford man has been charged with "Unlawfully Did Knowingly Use a Forged Document." @680NEWS— Fil Martino (@fil_martino) February 10, 2021
He was subsequently released from custody and is slated to appear in a Brampton court on April 19, 2021.
“Discussions with Public Health determined that there were no additional offences under the HPPA or Emergency Management Act and they facilitated his transport to a hotel for the required quarantine period,” Peel police said in a statement.
On February 3, Ontario began to enforce stringent screening measures for all international travellers requiring they take a COVID-19 test on arrival at Pearson airport.
The testing also applies to the province’s land border crossings to the United States.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also announced stricter restrictions on travellers in response to new, more contagious variants of the novel coronavirus – including making it mandatory for travelers to quarantine in a hotel at their own expense when they arrive in Canada.
It’s unclear when these measures will be enforced in the country.
On Tuesday, Trudeau announced that as of Feb. 15, when travellers or permanent residents return to Canada through a land border, they will need to show a negative 72-hour PCR test just like air travel.
The feds began requiring all people arriving in Canada by air to show a negative PCR-based COVID-19 test in early January.
Anyone with information regarding this matter is asked to contact the Airport Division Criminal Investigation Bureau or investigators at Peel division.
