Blaine’s BC tourist said that the PCR test costs about $150, which seems to be a deterrent to most people

After a year and a half without a steady flow of Canadian tourists, business owners in Blaine, Washington, hope that the reopening of the Canadian-U.S. border for non-essential travel will bring about a substantial increase in revenue and traffic.

However, many of Bryan’s owners, and even Bellingham, told Global News on Monday that they did not see the influx of traffic they expected.

Baron Brandt, owns International Mailbox In Bryan, Monday said they have been open for about an hour and have only four customers so far.

They have been picking up packages there since the border was closed for non-essential traffic in March 2020.

“The opening of the border does not have any impact on us,” he said.

“The people on the same level continue to talk about the $150, $200 PCR test. So, as you can see, the impact is very small.”

2:01Nearly two years later, the Canada-U.S. land border reopened

Although negative Coronavirus disease The test is not required for transit into the United States, and it is also not applicable when returning to Canada.

Canada requires all passengers aged 5 or older to undergo a negative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test within 72 hours of transit before entering the country. Other tests that will be accepted include nucleic acid test (NAT), nucleic acid amplification test (NAAT), or reverse transcription loop-mediated isothermal amplification (RT-LAMP).

These tests use methods such as nasopharyngeal (NP) swabs, nasal swabs, or saliva samples.

Laura Manats and her husband are from Vancouver. They shopped in Bellingham and visited friends on the same day.

To go home, they paid $350 for two PCR tests.

Laura said of waiting at the border: “We are actually ready (waiting) for three or four hours, only five minutes.”

“We are surprised.”

2:21Air and rail travel in British Columbia requires a second vaccine passport

Melissa Leveque, a resident of Maple Ridge, is visiting her family for a few days. She said she is sure that everyone will be ready to buy their favorite products on Trader Joe’s Monday.

“It’s been a long time since I saw my family. Crossing borders and being able to make connections is actually really emotional,” she said.

“I like cookie butter too,” she said with a smile.

Leveque said she paid $150 for the PCR test and the result came back within 24 hours.

Companies that rely heavily on Canadian customers blame complex and expensive PCR testing requirements for turning away cross-border tourists.

“You can open the border as you want, but the reality is that if it costs $150 or $200 to pass, it will be a huge deterrent,” Barron said.

He added that the only thing that will change for them is the restoration of normal border traffic.

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