The United States announced Friday that it has extended its border closures with Canada and Mexico until Sept. 21, once again prohibiting travel deemed non-essential.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced the extension of the closures on Twitter Friday, Aug. 20, just hours before the closure was scheduled to expire on Saturday, Aug. 21.
“To minimize the spread of #COVID19, including the Delta variant, the United States is extending restrictions on non-essential travel at our land and ferry crossings with Canada and Mexico through September 21, while continuing to ensure the flow of essential trade and travel,” Homeland Security’s tweet read.
“In coordination with public health and medical experts, DHS continues working closely with its partners across the United States and internationally to determine how to safely and sustainably resume normal travel,” a followup tweet read.
Canadians have not been able to cross into Point Roberts or at any other border crossing in Whatcom County or elsewhere in the U.S. for purposes deemed non-essential since March of 2020, when the two countries closed their border in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. Essential travel, including trade, has still been allowed between the two countries throughout the now 18-month closure.
The border closure was originally set to last one month, but each side extended the closure on a month-by-month basis until last month, when Canada announced that it would allow vaccinated Americans who met other requirements to cross the border for “non-essential” purposes beginning Aug. 9.
But the U.S. did not reciprocate, instead extending its restrictions to Aug. 21, and now has extended the closure another month, bringing criticism from many Washington state political officials.
“We are disappointed by this decision and see no reason why accommodations cannot be made that would benefit border communities suffering tremendously from this closure,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement emailed to The Bellingham Herald. “We will continue to urge the administration to make progress on this issue as soon as possible.’
Senator Patty Murray has also been vocal in calling for the border to be opened, particularly for Whatcom County’s exclave Point Roberts.
“”This is the wrong decision by the administration — there must at the very least be an exemption for Point Roberts as we work to safely reopen the US-Canada border,” Murray said in a statement emailed to The Herald. “I appreciate the administration’s science-based approach to the COVID-19 pandemic and I firmly believe that the evidence supports a narrow and tailored exception to the administration’s Canadian border closure and a reopening of the Point Roberts port of entry to Canadian travel,”
White House COVID-19 Coordinator, in an Aug. 5 briefing said, “the interagency working groups are currently developing a policy process, and we will be ready when it is the right time to consider reopening travel. And that’ll be guided, as always, by the science and the public health.”
Meanwhile, Canadian towns close to the border are beginning to see some resurgence, according to a story by The Post Star, which highlighted the vibrant changes in Kingston, Ontario, since vaccinated Americans were allowed to cross the border.
“Essentially, for the last year or more the downtown has been dead,” Kingston resident Stuart MacDonald told the Post Star.
And that is what many towns just south of the border are hoping for once American restrictions are loosened.
Point Roberts has been used as an example of the hardships border towns have endured during the border closure, as the small community has been mostly cut off from the rest of Whatcom County due to its location on the tip of the Tsawwassen Peninsula, forcing two border crossings for journeys by land to other areas within the U.S.
“I have yet to be presented with a compelling explanation outlining why a border exemption for Point Roberts has not yet been provided,” Murray’s statement read. “I’ve spoken directly with (Homeland Security) Secretary (Alejandro) Mayorkas about this, with top White House officials, and senior officials at the State Department as well — I will keep pressing the administration on this until we get this matter resolved.”
COVID numbers update
As of Friday, the United States continues to have the highest number of COVID cases in the world with more than 37.3 million confirmed cases and 625,000 related deaths, according to the John Hopkins University COVID-19 dashboard. More than 3.0 million cases and 15,640 deaths have come in the past 28 days.
Canada, meanwhile, has had more than 1.4 million cases and 26,000 related deaths, according to the website, including more than 38,000 cases and 260 deaths in the past 28 days.
The U.S. is the third-most populated country in the world with more than 331 million residents, according to worldometers.info, while Canada is No. 39 with more than 37 million residents.
According to ourwordindata.org, Canada has the eighth-highest percentage of its population that is at least partially vaccinated at 72.97%, and 65.01% are fully vaccinated. The U.S. is 15th and has 59.86% of its population at least partially vaccinated and 50.71% fully vaccinated.
According to the British Columbia COVID-19 dashboard on Thursday, the province has seen 158,256 total cases during the pandemic and 1,784 confirmed deaths — an increase of 9,693 cases and 21 deaths since the last U.S. border closure extension was announced July 21. With a population of approximately 5.1 million, British Columbia has seen an infection rate of 190.05 cases and 0.41 deaths per 100,000 residents since July 21.
The Washington State Department of Health, meanwhile, reported 474,342 confirmed cases and 6,330 related deaths on Thursday— an increase of 50,716 cases and 274 deaths since July 21. With a population of approximately 7.5 million, the state has averaged 676.21 cases and 3.65 deaths per 100,000 residents since July 21.
Washington state reports administering 8.3 million vaccine doses, or approximately 1.12 doses per resident, while British Columbia reports administering 7.2 million doses, or approximately 1.43 per resident.
Washington state reports 59.1% of the total population has initiated vaccination and 53.8% has completed it. Meanwhile, British Columbia reports approximately 75.4% of its residents have initiated vaccination and 67.3% have completed it.
