Interior residents stranded by closed B.C. highways don’t need COVID test to get home through U.S.

The normal requirements for Canadians returning to Canada from the U.S. by land are being eased because of the highway closures due to massive flooding and slides earlier this week.

The Canada Border Services Agency confirmed in an email today, Nov. 17, that fully vaccinated people returning home through the U.S. because of the blocked highways in B.C. will not need to also get a COVID test before entering to Canada.

For those not fully vaccinated, the quarantine period will also be waived.

READ MORE: The latest news on mudslides and flooding in British Columbia for Nov. 17, 2021

It will be up to border guards to determine if travellers should be exempt.

“There are many factors that come into play when a Canada Border Services Agency border services officer is determining which instructions are provided to a traveller with regards to their public health obligations,” the email reads. “Canada Border Services Agency officers use all of the information available to them when a traveller is seeking entry into Canada to determine which set of instructions apply to the traveller.”

Of course, someone in Kamloops or Kelowna wanting to return home to the Lower Mainland, or visa versa, faces a long drive as all the major highways are closed, likely through the weekend.

Google Maps shows a route from Osoyoos through Wenatchee to Vancouver being about 600 kilometres and taking seven hours. Someone going to or from Kamloops would add about four hours and 300 km to the trip.

Normally it’s about 350 km and four hours from Kamloops to Vancouver.

News reports out of Washington State said that Highway 5 was closed on Monday and partially reopened Tuesday and there were states of emergencies declared in 14 counties because of the same storm that hit B.C.

READ MORE: Crews rush to repair southern Interior rail lines damaged by washouts, mudslides

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