OTTAWA, Apr 19 (NNN-XINHUA) – Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, made clear that Canada and the United States have agreed to extend cross-border restrictions to all non-essential travel for another 30 days, to prevent the further spread of COVID-19.
“This is an important decision and one that will keep people on both sides of the border safe,” Trudeau said, at his press conference, outside Rideau Cottage in Ottawa on Saturday.
On Mar 21, Canada and the United States reached an agreement to close the border to all non-essential travel for 30 days, to stem the spread of COVID-19. The March agreement is set to expire on Apr 20 (tomorrow).
The border closing did not affect essential travel, including truck and rail traffic carrying food and goods, and medical staff travel to work. Restricted flights between the two countries continue.
The extension comes a day after Canadian Public Safety Minister, Bill Blair’s discussions with U.S. officials. “It’s another example of the excellent collaboration between our two countries,” Trudeau said.
Trudeau also announced that his government will allocate more than 306 million Canadian dollars (about 218 million U.S. dollars) to support Indigenous businesses against the COVID-19 crisis.
The financial support will allow Indigenous companies to access short-term, interest-free loans and non-repayable contributions, the prime minister added.
As of 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Canada Eastern Time, Canada identified 32,413 COVID-19 cases and 1,346 deaths, according to CTV.– NNN-XINHUA
