US extends land border restrictions with Canada, Mexico amid coronavirus pandemic

By Ovunc Kutlu

ANKARA (AA) - The US extended land border restrictions with Canada and Mexico on Friday to non-essential travel, including tourism for at least another month amid the spread of the coronavirus and its delta variant.

"In coordination with public health and medical experts, DHS (Department of Homeland Security) continues working closely with its partners across the United States and internationally to determine how to safely and sustainably resume normal travel," the agency said on Twitter.

The land border restrictions were previously extended through Aug. 21 on Saturday.

The restrictions have been extended every month since March 2020 when the World Health Organization declared the virus first identified in Wuhan, China, a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

Since then, DHS and its counterparts in Canada and Mexico have closed the borders to leisure travelers to limit the spread of the virus.

The decision, however, comes after Canada announced July 19 that it would allow fully vaccinated American tourists into the country starting Aug. 9 for non-essential travel.