The federal government has reinstated mandatory random COVID testing for fully-vaccinated international travellers arriving at any one of four major airports.

The reversal in policy comes a little more than one month after the public safety measure was lifted.

The testing resumes for travellers arriving in Toronto, Calgary, Vancouver and Montreal starting next Tuesday.

The highly infectious BA-5 sub-variant of Omicron has been confirmed in Newfoundland and Labrador with a predicted spike in case numbers in the next two to four weeks according to Public Health.

The testing is being taken out of airports and will instead occur at off-site locations like pharmacies. Travellers can also book a virtual self-swab appointment.

Unvaccinated travellers will still have to test on days one and eight of a mandatory two-week quarantine period. Fully-vaccinated travellers who arrive in the country and test positive must isolate for a full ten days, regardless of the individual isolation requirements in each province.