An Edmonton woman had to pay hundreds of dollars for COVID-19 tests after suffering a travel nightmare trying to get back into the country from a trip to the US..Fredette Kopola decided she didn’t want to spend Christmas alone at home so she booked a flight to visit a friend in Pennsylvania, on December 16, 2020 returning on January 7, 2021..During the last week of her stay, Kopola said she became aware of looming regulations about having a required COVID-19 test before reentering the country but said nothing seemed set in stone to her..“On the Monday before my flight I started to look to get a COVID test before I flew out so I would be on the safe side. I couldn’t find one near to where I was and I didn’t have my own transportation but I found a testing centre at the airport,” she recalled..“I went online and was able to easily book a test for that evening and the airport was nearby to where I was. I quickly went to the airport, but found out I couldn’t take the test, because it was on the other side of security.”.With her flight home leaving Thursday, Kopola booked another test then, when she would be able to get through the security gate for a connecting flight to Detroit.. Mossleigh pub briefly opens before authorities move in .“I got to the airport early and went to the COVID test location, but their satellite location was having computer issues and they didn’t know when it would be fixed. The worker apologized to me and said they didn’t have ready access to IT help,” she said..“My flight was scheduled to leave in another 45 minutes, so I didn’t know what to do other than continue on and hope that I could either get a Rapid test & PCR test in Detroit or Toronto airport, or they would understand that my attempt to get one in Pennsylvania didn’t work, through no fault of my own and I had paperwork showing it.”.After arriving for a quick layover in Detroit, Kopola made her way to the Delta gate to get a connection to Toronto, then on to Edmonton. She was told there were no testing facilities at the airport and to ask Google for a facility nearby and go in a taxi..“I was in complete disbelief and dejected that this is how Canada would handle this situation. They could do more to allow their own citizens back home, but instead left them out stranded wherever they happened to be. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t allowed back into my own country. I started to cry and ended up crying the entire time I was in the taxi going to the clinic and cried again later on when I returned to the airport..Kopola said she had to wait 30 minutes at the facility she was taken before she was even let in the building, time she had to sit in the cab with the meter running..Once inside she had to cough up $130US for the first test and $110US for a Rapid Test, to be topped off with a $146US bill for the cab ride and wait..“Thank God for credit cards,” she said..“When I went back to the Delta counter and tried to re-book a flight, the customer service person wouldn’t let me re-book until the results were returned. I tried to explain that the worker at the gate said I could re-book with a Rapid Test. They were actually rude and abrupt. I broke down crying again and then she said I should talk to her supervisor. That ended up being the only light on the trip, because the supervisor got me a paid hotel room for the night until the results came in and I could take a shuttle bus to the hotel.”.At the airport the next afternoon, Lopola encountered another traveller heading for Toronto, who didn’t speak much English, and had trouble understanding all the regulations..“He became confused, so I tried to help him and explain that he would need the test results before Canada would let him into the country. I told him the same thing happened to me the day before and I tried to explain what clinic I went to for the test and how much it cost. He said he didn’t have enough money. He kept waiting to see if he would get onto the plane in the end, but he never did. As I was on the plane I could see him sitting in the waiting area, alone, just like I was the day before.”.Lopola was eventually allowed into the country at Toronto and was able to catch a flight home..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
An Edmonton woman had to pay hundreds of dollars for COVID-19 tests after suffering a travel nightmare trying to get back into the country from a trip to the US..Fredette Kopola decided she didn’t want to spend Christmas alone at home so she booked a flight to visit a friend in Pennsylvania, on December 16, 2020 returning on January 7, 2021..During the last week of her stay, Kopola said she became aware of looming regulations about having a required COVID-19 test before reentering the country but said nothing seemed set in stone to her..“On the Monday before my flight I started to look to get a COVID test before I flew out so I would be on the safe side. I couldn’t find one near to where I was and I didn’t have my own transportation but I found a testing centre at the airport,” she recalled..“I went online and was able to easily book a test for that evening and the airport was nearby to where I was. I quickly went to the airport, but found out I couldn’t take the test, because it was on the other side of security.”.With her flight home leaving Thursday, Kopola booked another test then, when she would be able to get through the security gate for a connecting flight to Detroit.. Mossleigh pub briefly opens before authorities move in .“I got to the airport early and went to the COVID test location, but their satellite location was having computer issues and they didn’t know when it would be fixed. The worker apologized to me and said they didn’t have ready access to IT help,” she said..“My flight was scheduled to leave in another 45 minutes, so I didn’t know what to do other than continue on and hope that I could either get a Rapid test & PCR test in Detroit or Toronto airport, or they would understand that my attempt to get one in Pennsylvania didn’t work, through no fault of my own and I had paperwork showing it.”.After arriving for a quick layover in Detroit, Kopola made her way to the Delta gate to get a connection to Toronto, then on to Edmonton. She was told there were no testing facilities at the airport and to ask Google for a facility nearby and go in a taxi..“I was in complete disbelief and dejected that this is how Canada would handle this situation. They could do more to allow their own citizens back home, but instead left them out stranded wherever they happened to be. I couldn’t believe I wasn’t allowed back into my own country. I started to cry and ended up crying the entire time I was in the taxi going to the clinic and cried again later on when I returned to the airport..Kopola said she had to wait 30 minutes at the facility she was taken before she was even let in the building, time she had to sit in the cab with the meter running..Once inside she had to cough up $130US for the first test and $110US for a Rapid Test, to be topped off with a $146US bill for the cab ride and wait..“Thank God for credit cards,” she said..“When I went back to the Delta counter and tried to re-book a flight, the customer service person wouldn’t let me re-book until the results were returned. I tried to explain that the worker at the gate said I could re-book with a Rapid Test. They were actually rude and abrupt. I broke down crying again and then she said I should talk to her supervisor. That ended up being the only light on the trip, because the supervisor got me a paid hotel room for the night until the results came in and I could take a shuttle bus to the hotel.”.At the airport the next afternoon, Lopola encountered another traveller heading for Toronto, who didn’t speak much English, and had trouble understanding all the regulations..“He became confused, so I tried to help him and explain that he would need the test results before Canada would let him into the country. I told him the same thing happened to me the day before and I tried to explain what clinic I went to for the test and how much it cost. He said he didn’t have enough money. He kept waiting to see if he would get onto the plane in the end, but he never did. As I was on the plane I could see him sitting in the waiting area, alone, just like I was the day before.”.Lopola was eventually allowed into the country at Toronto and was able to catch a flight home..Dave Naylor is the News Editor of the Western Standard.,dnaylor@westernstandardonline.com,.Twitter.com/nobby7694
