Canadian The government official did not provide any hints as to whether the relevant changes (if any) will be announced Canada-U.S. border next week.
Officials were asked this question at a press conference on Thursday because the expiration date of travel restrictions between the two countries is July 21.
Dominic LeBlanc, Minister of Intergovernmental Affairs, told reporters, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau Later on Thursday, he will meet with the first minister and the country’s prime minister to discuss border issues.
“We have already said that we are ready to take additional incremental steps in the coming weeks and months because it is safe to do so… We will have more specific measures in the coming days and weeks. Many arguments,” he said.
“We also said that we fully understand Canadians’ desire to travel again, visit their families, and resume some very important activities in the past. Coronavirus disease, Which is why we relaxed some measures in a balanced and thoughtful manner on July 5th. “
On Wednesday, lawmakers in the Midwest formally asked Washington and Ottawa to take immediate action to reopen their borders to fully vaccinated travelers.
That day, Foreign Secretary Mark Garno spoke with U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Brinken and “agreed to continue to work closely and coordinate efforts to reopen the Canada-U.S. border in a safe and sustainable manner,” the call concluded.
Since March last year, the border has banned all travel and trade necessary to stop the spread of COVID-19.
Travel restrictions have been extended monthly for more than a year. Canada began to gradually relax quarantine requirements on July 5, But only for fully vaccinated citizens, permanent residents and other eligible travelers-although it does not apply to leisure travelers.
But now COVID-19 Due to the Delta variant, the number of cases in the United States is on the rise. According to statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau, there were 31,845 new cases and 331 deaths in the United States on Wednesday. Johns Hopkins University.
Canada’s Deputy Chief Public Health Officer, Dr. Howard Njoo, said that when considering how to safely reopen the border, officials are weighing several factors, including vaccination rates, disease transmission, hospitalization and deaths.
“The wild card… is a variant,” Njoo said.
“So far, many of them have proven to be more contagious-but overall, the evidence we have seen so far shows that it is similar to the original COVID-19.”
Njoo added that officials are monitoring the effectiveness of the vaccine and are closely watching the resurgence of COVID-19 in the United Kingdom and other countries that have eased restrictions.
Trudeau responded to some of Njoo’s views at an unrelated press conference on Thursday.
He said that Canada needs to meet certain domestic vaccination standards in order to safely reopen its border with the United States. Trudeau acknowledged the meeting with the Prime Minister in French, and he said that he intends to discuss this topic at the meeting.
“People understand that we are still in a pandemic,” he said in French. “We must continue to make progress gradually.”
Raywat Deonandan, an epidemiologist at the University of Ottawa, previously told Global that the increase in cases in the south could have an impact on border restrictions.
He said that the problem in the United States is that every state is different in its fight against COVID-19. For example, Mississippi has the lowest vaccination rate, with 33.6% of eligible people fully vaccinated, while Vermont has the highest vaccination rate, with 67.4% of eligible people fully vaccinated.
“This makes it difficult for Canada to travel in certain states,” Deonandan said. “It is recommended that Canadians travel to the states in the United States, especially those grown in the Delta variant, and self-isolate when they return, looking for a negative test or not going first.
At the same time, Njoo said that Canadians must continue to be vaccinated in order to put COVID-19 behind us.
He said: “The vaccination rate of the Canadian population is a very important indicator because the more protection we receive as a whole, the greater our flexibility in importing any potential cases.”
-File from Katie Dangerfield with Saba Aziz.
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