The United States and Canada closed their shared border on Wednesday as U.S. President Donald Trump and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau have agreed to close the US-Canada border to all non-essential travel in an attempt to curb the spread of coronavirus.
Trump said that trade would not be affected.
Closing the border with Canada raised new questions over America’s southern border with Mexico. Trump has said that his administration did not plan to fully close the border with Mexico.
The US has nearly 8,000 cases of Covid-19 across all 50 states and has seen 138 deaths so far.
Canada has 598 confirmed cases, with eight deaths.
Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau, who has been in self-quarantine after his wife, Sophie Grégoire Trudeau, tested positive for Covid-19 said: “We’re encouraging people to stay home. We’re telling our citizens not to visit their neighbours if they don’t absolutely have to. This collaborative and reciprocal measure is an extension of that prudent approach. I want to be clear though, that essential travel will continue.”
