US, Mexico, Canada Extend CCP Virus Travel Restrictions for Another Month

Signs showing closed lanes at the U.S.-Canada border crossing in Lacolle, Quebec, on March 18, 2020. Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press via AP

The United States, Canada, and Mexico have extended CCP virus-related travel restrictions for another month, it was announced April 20.

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), in confirming the development, said an additional 30 days will be added to the restrictions, meaning that it will end around May 20. Officials didn’t provide an exact end date.

“In close collaboration, the US, Mexico, and Canada have each agreed to extend restrictions on non-essential travel across their shared borders for 30 additional days,” acting Secretary Chad Wolf said in a statement. “As President Trump stated last week, border control, travel restrictions and other limitations remain critical to slowing the spread and allowing the phased opening of the country.”

The United States and Canada announced on March 18 that nonessential traffic across the border would be blocked. The United States made a similar announcement about travel to Mexico two days later.

At the time, officials said the restrictions would be reviewed after 30 days to decide  whether an extension would be necessary.

President Donald Trump said that southern border travel restrictions are designed to reduce the incentive for a mass global migration that would badly deplete health care resources in the country, during the CCP (Chinese Communist Party) virus pandemic.

On April 20, Mexico’s foreign relations secretariat confirmed on Twitter the agreement to extend the restrictions, saying it came “after reviewing the development of COVID-19 propagation in Mexico and [the United States].”

Hours after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced the closing of the border with the United States to all tourists, a car stops at a Canadian customs booth in Niagara Falls, Canada, on March 18, 2020. Geoff Robins/AFP via Getty Images

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated on April 18 the United States and Canada agreed to keep the border closed for another month, saying it would be likely much longer before the restriction is lifted.

“The agreement is the same terms. It’s just extended for another 30 days. It will ensure we continue to get essential goods and services back and forth across the border,” Trudeau told reporters. The prime minister added in French that the restrictions will remain in place for “many, many weeks to come,” according to a translation from The Associated Press.

The United States has more than 775,000 confirmed cases, while Canada has more than 37,000 confirmed cases and Mexico has more than 8,200, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.