US borders with Canada, Mexico to stay closed through at least Jan. 21

As expected, U.S. border closures will be extending into the New Year.

Due to the rise in COVID-19 coronavirus cases, the land borders with Canada and Mexico will remain closed through Jan. 21, Chad Wolf, acting secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced on Friday.

The borders have been closed since March, with DHS issuing month-to-month extensions.

“In order to continue to prevent the spread of COVID, the US, Mexico, & Canada will extend the restrictions on non-essential travel through Jan. 21,” Wolf wrote on Twitter. “We are working closely with Mexico & Canada to keep essential trade & travel open while also protecting our citizens from the virus.”

He added that nonessential travel restrictions will be reevaluated “as this administration continues to make great progress on a vaccine for COVID.”

Mexico’s Foreign Ministry also posted about the extension on Twitter, saying the country proposed the newest month-long extension to the U.S.

As of Friday, the U.S. has the most COVID-19 cases of any country with more than 15 million, while Mexico and Canada have more than 1 million and 400,000, respectively.

Both U.S. land borders were closed to all but essential traffic in mid-March after the coronavirus pandemic hit, with government officials announcing multiple extensions as case counts continued to rise, especially in the U.S. The previous extension, announced in mid-November, was due to expire Dec. 21. Despite the closure of land borders, U.S. citizens can still travel by air.

According to the official website for the Government of Canada, travelers entering from the U.S. must prove they are traveling for an essential purpose, along with not presenting COVID-19 symptoms and planning to quarantine for 14 days upon arrival.

Source: USA Today

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