Health Minister John Haggie says the reason an entire flight arrived at St. John’s International Airport from outside the province, that the provincial government was not aware of, was a failure by the airport authority to inform Eastern Health to send staff.

Haggie says it was a communications failure and a scheduling issue.

From now on, he says things will be tightened up at the airport.

Haggie says now you will see RNC cadets and uniformed wildlife enforcement officers at airports to increase screening measures. He says it will be similar at Marine Atlantic ports.

If those measures do not work, Haggie says they will institute more on the advice of Chief Medical Officer of Health, Dr. Janice Fitzgerald.

Province Seeking to Establish Consistency at Provincial Entry Points

Meanwhile, Premier Ball says issues around border control have been discussed with the All-Party Committee that meets every morning.

Ball says they endeavor to get to some kind of consistency around every single point of entry to the province.

The Premier says it requires training in some cases, but they’re looking for consistency that will give them tight control over the borders.