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HEALTH-VIRUS-US-CANADA-BORDER
Canada, US expected to close border to all but essential travelers:
reports
OTTAWA, March 18, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – Canada and the United States on
Wednesday are expected to announce the closure of their common border to non-
essential travelers, several Canadian media reported.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau should make an announcement during
the day on the issue, Foreign Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne said,
without providing specifics.
“What the prime minister is going to announce will reassure people,” he
said in an interview Wednesday morning with public broadcaster Radio-Canada.
He promised new measures “proposed by both sides,” noting that hundreds of
thousands of people cross the border every day.
On Monday, Trudeau announced that Canada was closing its borders to foreign
travelers with the notable exception of Americans — a position that drew
criticism in Canada as the coronavirus epidemic intensified in the United
States.
According to Canadian media, Ottawa and Washington were finalizing an
agreement that would bar tourists and shoppers from crossing the border,
while still allowing the free movement of goods between the two countries.
The agreement would limit the entry to Canada of Americans considered
essential, like truck drivers and people employed in other vital sectors of
the economy, according to the reports. The government had stressed on Monday
that Americans were being exempted from the border restrictions because of
the high level of integration of the US and Canadian economies.
As of Tuesday evening, Canada had nearly 600 confirmed coronavirus cases
and eight deaths from the disease, while the US death toll has surpassed 100
with nearly 6,500 confirmed cases.
BSS/AFP/ARS/1923 hrs