The Canada-U.S. border closure has been extended for another month, as the number of COVID-19 cases continue to escalate in both countries.
According to federal Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair, the extension means the border will remain closed to non-essential travellers until October 21, 2020.
The border was initially closed to non-essential travellers on March 21 and has since been extended multiple times.
“We will continue to base our decisions on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe,” wrote federal Minister of Public Safety, Bill Blair, in a tweet Friday morning.
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
The closure agreement exempts the flow of trade and commerce, as well as vital health care workers such as nurses who live and work on opposite sides of the border.
Over the past 24 hours, the U.S. reported over 39,000 new COVID-19 cases while Canada had nearly 700 new cases.
While the latter pales in comparison to how our neighbours to the south are handling the pandemic, Canada has been dealing with an uptick in cases in recent weeks.
B.C. alone reported a new record high of 165 cases on Thursday while cases in Ontario has been reporting over 300 cases per day.
Canada has now recorded over 140,000 total cases in total.
