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WASHINGTON/OTTAWA (Reuters) — The United States' land borders between Canada and Mexico will remain closed to all nonessential travel until Nov. 21, the U.S. Homeland Security Department said Monday.
The extension comes as the United States remains one of the worst affected countries in the world and is reporting the second-highest number of new cases daily.
"To continue to limit the spread of COVID, the US, Mexico, & Canada will extend the restrictions on nonessential travel through Nov 21. We are working closely with Mexico & Canada to identify safe criteria to ease the restrictions in the future & support our border communities," said U.S. Acting Homeland Security Secretary Chad Wolf on Twitter.
Canada's Public Safety Minister Bill Blair earlier disclosed the latest one-month extension on Twitter, confirming a policy put in place in March to control the spread of COVID-19.
"We'd love to have the border open ... but we can't do that unless we're comfortable that Canadians are being kept safe," Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in an interview on AM 900 CHML Hamilton radio earlier on Monday.
"Right now, the situation in the United States continues to be of concern," Trudeau added.
Last month, on the day the border extension was confirmed, U.S. President Donald Trump said it would open "pretty soon" because Canada wanted the restrictions lifted. But Canada's government has made it clear it does not want the restrictions removed until COVID-19 is under control in both countries.
The restrictions are particularly painful for U.S. and Canadian towns along the border that are tightly intertwined.
Statistics Canada said earlier U.S. visits to Canada by automobile had plummeted by more than 95% in August compared with August 2019.
(Reporting by David Shepardson and Steve Scherer; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Marguerita Choy)
