US, Canada working on mutual ban on non-essential travel

TORONTO (AP) — Canada and the United States are working out the details of a mutual ban on non-essential travel between the two countries amid the new coronavirus pandemic, a Canadian official said late Tuesday.

The official was not authorized to discuss details amid discussions and ahead of an announcement and spoke to The Associated Press on condition anonymity.

Both countries are eager to choke off the spread of the virus but also eager to continue the critical economic relationship. Canada relies on the U.S. for 75 percent of its exports.

Truck drivers and Canadian snowbirds, who live in the U.S. for part of the year, are among those expected to get an exemption. Completely closing the border would cause severe economic damage to both the U.S. and Canada as the two economies are integrated. Much of Canada’s food supply comes from or via the U.S. and and 98 percent of its oil exports go to the U.S..

About 18 percent of American exports go to Canada.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Monday he would close the country’s borders to anyone not a citizen, an American or a permanent resident — and even they have to self-isolate for 14 days on arrival — due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Trudeau said the exemption for Americans, despite the rapid rise of cases in the U.S., was due to “the level of integration of our two economies.”

For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia. The vast majority of people recover from the new virus.

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland said the border is vital to the daily life to people on both sides.

“Nearly 200,000 people cross that border every day and that border and that traffic that goes across that border is literally a lifeline for both the Canadians and the Americans on both sides of that border,″ Freeland said.

“We get our groceries thanks to truckers who drive back and forth across that border,” she said. “Very urgently needed medical supplies and medicines go back and forth across that border. And essential workers go back and forth across that border every day. So it is a unique relationship for Canada and it’s important for us in handling our situation on the border to be sure that we act to get things right.″

But many in Canada criticized the decision to give Americans an exemption. British Columbia Health Minister Adrian Dix said he vehemently disagreed with the American exemption given the surge in cases in neighboring Washington State.