Overwhelming Majority of Canadians Say Border With US Should Stay Closed ‘Longer’

TORONTO (Sputnik) – The vast majority of Canadians say they believe their country’s border with the United States should remain closed beyond the 21 July deadline, an Abacus Data poll revealed.

The data showed that Canadians believe the United States has moved too hastily in reopening the nation following a two-month COVID-19-induced shutdown.

Meanwhile, Doug Ford, the premier of the Canadian province of Ontario, told reporters he wants to see the coronavirus-induced border restrictions with the United States extended beyond the deadline.

Ford said that he delivered this message to Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and added that the current situation is acceptable as long as the supply chains between the two nations remain open.

All non-essential travel between the United States and Canada has been halted since 20 March.

The findings come amid a spike in new COVID-19 cases in certain parts of the United States. As of 10 July, the US has registered almost 3,107,000 novel coronavirus cases and 133,000 fatalities related to the disease, the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention data shows. Over the past 24 hours, nearly 60,000 new COVID-19 cases and almost 800 deaths have been reported. Canada has reported more than 107,000 coronavirus cases and nearly 8,760 COVID-19-related fatalities so far, according to the National Health Ministry.

Sourse: sputniknews.com