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As pandemic rages in U.S., border stays closed – and Canadians approve

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You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisAs pandemic rages in U.S., border stays closed – and Canadians approveShare thisTraffic on the Peace Bridge is light as travel between the United States and Canada remains severely restricted.&nbsp;Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Getty Images)Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo.&nbsp;WASHINGTON&nbsp;– The closure of the U.S.-Canadian border, which is about to be extended for another month, is a tale of two countries: one that has failed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, and one that fears that visitors from south of the border could come in and spread the disease.The shutdown of the border to all nonessential traffic will be extended to at least Aug. 21, sources confirmed Tuesday. That move comes in the wake of a poll showing that 81% of Canadians want the closure to continue indefinitely.On top of that, when Rep. Brian Higgins tweeted out a letter earlier this month in which he called for development of a plan to reopen the border, Twitter erupted with more than 6,800 replies. Many came from Canadians who made clear they have no interest in reopening the border anytime soon."That border stays CLOSED. Canadians may be polite but we aren't CRAZY!" one Twitter respondent said. Another characterized the U.S. response to the coronavirus by posting a video of a dumpster in flames floating down a flooded street.The rate of infection in Ontario is 267 Covid-19 cases for every hundred thousand people, whereas it's 2,071 per hundred thousand in New York, noted Higgins, a Buffalo Democrat."That's nearly eight times the number of Covid-19 cases in New York State versus the province of Ontario," Higgins said. "So unless and until those numbers come down, that border is going to remain closed."Higgins has been pushing to reopen the border, saying he has an obligation to do so&nbsp;–&nbsp;but said he also has to be honest about how Canadians have come to regard their neighbors to the south."They view Americans as super-spreaders and a direct threat to the health and safety of their citizens in the province of Ontario, in the country of Canada," Higgins said.Nanos Research, a Canadian polling firm, confirmed that sentiment when it surveyed more than 1,000 Canadians between June 28 and July 2. The poll found that 81% of Canadians feel the border should remain closed for the foreseeable future.Listen now and subscribe: | | | | |"I think the fact of the matter is, for average Canadians, as long as they see the United States having difficulty containing and controlling the Covid-19 virus, there's probably going to be a significant level of concern related to opening up that border because Canadians will feel that we will put ourselves at risk," pollster Nik Nanos said on a recent CTV podcast.The rate of new coronavirus infections over the past week was 21.5 times higher in the United States than in Canada, according to data compiled by Our World in Data, a numbers-crunching outfit based at the University of Oxford in Great Britain.That data also shows that the daily rate of new infections in the U.S. has nearly tripled in the past month, whereas in Canada it has fallen by a third in that time.That being the case, public officials in Canada now speak of the U.S. as a bad example not to be followed."We're making steady progress, and now we're looking at, we're preparing for the next step, the next stage of our reopening," Ontario Premier Doug Ford said recently. "And we're doing this carefully and thoughtfully because you just have to look what's happening south of the border to see the consequences of them moving too quickly."CTV News first reported the extension of the border shutdown Tuesday morning.The two nations agreed to shut the border to nonessential travel on March 21 in an effort to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus.&nbsp;The two countries agreed that tourism would be regarded as nonessential. Essential travel was originally restricted to:• People traveling for medical purposes, or involved in emergency response or public health.• Those traveling to educational institutions.• Those traveling for work.Canada loosened its restrictions slightly last month, saying close family members could visit relatives in Canada so long as they agreed to quarantine for 14 days. But Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has given no indication that the restrictions will be further loosened anytime soon.“We’re going to continue to work hard to keep Canadians safe and to keep our economies flowing and we will have more to say later this week," he told reporters Monday.Sign up now to get the most recent coronavirus headlines and other important local and national news sent to your email inbox daily.Traffic on the Peace Bridge is light as travel between the United States and Canada remains severely restricted.&nbsp;Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Getty Images)Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo.&nbsp;{{title}}{{summary}}You don't have any notifications.Get up-to-the-minute news sent straight to your device.Topics

You are the owner of this article.You have permission to edit this article.© 2022 Lee EnterprisesShare ThisAs pandemic rages in U.S., border stays closed – and Canadians approveShare thisTraffic on the Peace Bridge is light as travel between the United States and Canada remains severely restricted.&nbsp;Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. (Getty Images)Rep. Brian Higgins, D-Buffalo.&nbsp;WASHINGTON&nbsp;– The closure of the U.S.-Canadian border, which is about to be extended for another month, is a tale of two countries: one that has failed to contain the Covid-19 pandemic, and one that...

As pandemic rages in U.S., border stays closed – and Canadians approve

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