Trudeau says no to border re-opening

The U.S./Canada border entered its seventh border closure extension on October 19, which is set to expire November 21. 

“We are extending non-essential travel restrictions with the United States until November 21st, 2020. Our decisions will continue to be based on the best public health advice available to keep Canadians safe,” wrote Bill Blair, Canada’s minister of public safety, in an October 19 tweet.

The border was first closed March 21 to control the spread of Covid-19.

In an October 14 interview on Global News Radio, Trudeau said he does not intend to open the border until the U.S. gets Covid-19 under control.

Trudeau said the Canadian government believes “the United States is not in a place where we would feel comfortable reopening those borders.”

Although both countries are experiencing a resurgence in cases, the situation in the U.S. is more dire as it surpasses 8 million known cases. On October 18, the U.S. reported 47,035 new cases with a weekly daily average of 55,370 cases, up 22 percent from two weeks prior. There have been 218,986 confirmed Covid-19 fatalities to date and the country can expect another 177,000 deaths by the end of January 2021, according to projections made by the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation.

Canada, with a population roughly 11 percent of the U.S.’s, has had 198,148 cases and 9,760 deaths.

Considered on cases per 100,000 population, Canada has had 527 cases versus 2,456 for the U.S.