As the virus surges in the US, Canadians and Mexicans alike say keep the US border closed
(CNN)If public opinion and recent activity are any indication, the United States’ northern and southern neighbors agree that the American border should remain closed due to a surge in coronavirus cases stateside.
A new poll concluded that a vast majority of Canadians want the border to remain shut. The poll, conducted by Nanos Research for The Globe and Mail, found 81% of Canadians said the border should remain closed while just 14% said it could open now — but only in areas where infection rates are low.
The United States has more deaths from the coronavirus, with over 130,000 dead, than Canada has confirmed cases, with 108,000. Just 8,700 Canadians have died of Covid-19 causes since the pandemic began.
In Mexico, concerned residents have taken a similar stance.
A number of border towns are reportedly pleading with the Mexican government to keep cross-border movement restricted, hoping to curb both workers and tourists alike from bringing the virus from the US into Mexico.
Photos posted by the the public security secretariat in Mexico's Sonora state show checkpoints meant to stop tourists.
Photos posted by the the public security secretariat in Mexico’s Sonora state show checkpoints meant to stop tourists.
Some citizens are not waiting for the government to take action.
Over the weekend, residents of Sonoyta, a Mexican town on the Arizona border, used personal vehicles to block the road leading to Puerto Peñasco, a beach town popular with American tourists, The Guardian reported. They say they plan to continue to block parts of the border in the coming weeks, as more Americans flock to the country’s beaches this summer.
Sonoyta Mayor José Ramos Arzate released a statement on Facebook last Friday asking tourists to stay away from Mexico, citing the “accelerated rate of Covid-19 contagion in the neighboring state of Arizona.”
The US Embassy in Mexico City called on American citizens to stay home over the July Fourth weekend, saying, “The most patriotic thing you can do for you and your family is to stay home, practice social distancing, and not risk spreading the coronavirus by crossing borders unnecessarily.”
It added in the statement on its website that ,”Mexican border and local authorities are conducting enforcement actions to discourage non-essential travel in some areas,” and that anyone entering Mexico may have their temperature checked and “face the possibility of being returned to the United States or asked to quarantine in Mexico.”
The US, Mexico and Canada agreed to limit nonessential travel across both borders in March as “part of a North American approach to stop the spread of the virus,” according to a Department of Homeland Security release.
The border reopening date has since been extended multiple times — and could be again.