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On Friday (Sept 18), Canada has announced to further extend its southern border closure with the United States by another month till October 21, 2020 due to mounting number of COVID-19 cases in both the countries. The border closure will remain in place for non-essential travels that include for tourism, recreation, entertainment and shopping.
Mr. Bill Blair, Minister of Public Safety, has confirmed and wrote on Twitter, “We are extending non-essential travel restrictions with the United States until October 21st, 2020. We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe.”
We are extending non-essential travel restrictions with the United States until October 21st, 2020. We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe.
— Bill Blair (@BillBlair) September 18, 2020
He made the announcement after the discussion with his American counterpart, acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf.
This means that citizens from two countries can only travel for necessary reasons. Essential travel includes trade transportation by railways or trucks and people crossing the border for important tasks.
In addition, Canadian citizens and permanent residents in the United States and their immediate family members may also cross the border. Immediate family members include spouses, children, common-law partners, parents or stepparents. Apart from this, Canadians are allowed to fly into the United States, as long as they have not been traveled to countries with high COVID-19 risks such as China, Brazil or the United Kingdom in last 14 days.
The government of Canada still emphasizes the need to avoid all unnecessary travel outside of Canada. The government has made it clear on its official website that people who decide to travel abroad during the pandemic will not only expose themselves and others to the risk of being infected, but they may also become stranded.
Restrictions on crossing of the border were first imposed on March 21 for all except traded goods, essential workers and citizens returning their home. The border closure was earlier set to expire on Sept 21, but now this is the sixth time border closure has been extended, in a continuing effort to curb the spread of COVID-19 pandemic in two countries.
In regard to COVID-19 transmission in Canada, the country has reported a total number of 141,911 confirmed cases which are under treatment and 9,205 patients have died due to virus. However, 123,723 patients who tested positive to COVID-19 have completely recovered from the virus, as of Saturday (Sept 19).
On the other hand, the United States of America (USA) has maximum cases of COVID-19 than any other country. The country has reported 6,925,941 cases, 203,171 deaths caused by COVID-19 and 4,191,894 patients have been recovered from the virus.
