Trump Announces US-Canada Border Closure As Coronavirus Cases Reach 200,000

Source: Leonid Korchenko / Getty

The Cheeto-In-Chief, Donald Trump, announced on Wednesday morning that the United States is going to temporarily close its border with Canada to “non-essential traffic.” Of course, this is just the latest change happening in our country due to the current coronavirus pandemic.

“We will be, by mutual consent, temporarily closing our Northern Border with Canada to non-essential traffic,” Trump wrote on Twitter. “Trade will not be affected. Details to follow!”

Justin Trudeau, Canada’s prime minister, said the following at a press conference in Ottawa after Trump posted his tweet:

“I just spoke to President Trump again this morning, and we have agreed that both Canada and the United States will temporarily restrict all non-essential travel across the Canada-U.S. border.”

At this same press conference, Trudeau announced an almost $21 billion fiscal stimulus package to bolster Canada’s economy in the face of the coronavirus crisis. This comes after Trudeau’s announcement on Monday, where he said he was closing his country’s borders to foreigners, with the exception of American citizens. On Tuesday, the European Union also said it would close its external borders to non-citizens.

Canadian Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freedland, discussed the potential effects of closing border at a press conference on Tuesday.

“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 at that event, according to CBC.“We get our groceries thanks to truckers who drive back and forth across that border. Very urgently needed medical supplies and medicines go back and forth across that border,” she said. “And essential workers go back and forth across that border every day.”

While people shouldn’t have been traveling cross-country right now anyway, this move makes it seem even more like this pandemic is far from over.