The United States’ northern and southern neighbors agree that the US border should remain closed due to a surge in coronavirus cases stateside.
A new poll concluded that a big majority of Canadians want the American border to remain shut. The poll was conducted by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail. They found 81% of Canadians said the border should remain closed while just 14% said it could open now — but only in areas where coronavirus rates are low.
The United States has more deaths from the coronavirus, with over 130,000 casualties, while Canada has confirmed cases of 108,000. Only 8,700 Canadians have died of Covid-19 causes since the pandemic began.
In Mexico, concerned residents have taken a similar viewpoint.
A number of towns near the border are reportedly pleading with the Mexican government to keep cross-border movement restricted, hoping to curb both tourists and workers alike from bringing the virus from the US into Mexico.
However, some concerned citizens are not waiting for the government to take action.
According to The Guardian, residents of Sonoyta, a Mexican town on the Arizona border, used personal vehicles to block the road leading to Puerto Peñasco over the weekend.point 329 |
Puerto Peñasco is a beach town popular with American tourists.point 54 | Sonoyta residents say they plan to continue to block parts of the border in the coming weeks, as more Americans flock to the country’s beaches this summer.point 189 | 1
José Ramos Arzate, Sonoyta Mayor, released a statement on Facebook last Friday asking tourists to stay away from Mexico, saying the “accelerated rate of Covid-19 contagion in the neighboring state of Arizona.”
Meanwhile, the US Embassy in Mexico City called on US citizens to stay home over the 4th of July weekend, saying, “The most patriotic thing you can do for you and your family is to stay home, practice social distancing, and not risk spreading the coronavirus by crossing borders unnecessarily.”
Additionally, the embassy’s website said, “Mexican border and local authorities are conducting enforcement actions to discourage non-essential travel in some areas,” and that anyone entering Mexico may have their temperature checked and “face the possibility of being returned to the United States or asked to quarantine in Mexico.”
According to a Department of Homeland Security release, the United States, Mexico, and Canada agreed to limit nonessential travel across both borders in March as “part of a North American approach to stop the spread of the virus,”
The border reopening date has since been extended multiple times — and could be extended again.