Dr. Tam Says Your Chances Of Getting COVID-19 On An Airplane Are Really Low

Reports of it happening are "extremely rare."
Senior Writer

While there have been people who tested positive for COVID-19 on flights in Canada, the country's top doctor said that transmission while onboard a plane is really low.

Dr. Theresa Tam said during a press conference on November 10 that there have been a couple of reports about people getting infected on flights but it's a really small number.

She noted that modern planes are "really good" with how airflow happens in cabins.

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There's been very few reports, extremely rare reports actually of transmission aboard aircraft. Dr. Theresa Tam

Provinces are asked to share information on passengers who have tested positive but those reports haven't shown any transmission happening on planes.

Dr. Tam noted that in general, it's "extremely rare" for that to happen.

"There are a number of reasons perhaps as to why we're actually not seeing the actual conveyance itself as a main setting of spread," she said.

Those are things like wearing masks and people all facing one direction with the backs of seats in front of them.

Canada's top doctor also said that what's important in terms of risk reduction is where people come from along with what they do before and after their flight.

  • Senior Writer

    Lisa Belmonte (she/her) is a Senior Writer with Narcity Media. After graduating with a Bachelor of Journalism from Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University), she joined the Narcity team. Lisa covers news and notices from across the country from a Canada-wide perspective. Her early coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic earned Narcity its first-ever national journalism award nomination.

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