Tony Webster via Flickr
Traveling to Canada from the United States is discouraged by the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, who say that even those who are fully vaccinated can become infected and spread COVID-19 variants.
The CDC rates COVID-19 travel advisories from level 1 (low) to level 4 (very high) and has identified Canada as a level 4 danger zone. The highest level deserves the following advice from the CDC:
- Travelers should avoid all travel to Canada.
- Due to the current situation in Canada, even fully vaccinated travelers are at risk of contracting and spreading COVID-19 variants and should avoid all travel to Canada.
- If you must travel to Canada, get fully vaccinated before traveling. All travelers should wear a mask, stay 6 feet away from others, avoid crowds and wash their hands.
The CDC’s warning comes just after US representatives Michelle Fischbach and Pete Stauber, both Minnesota Republicans, encouraged the reopening of the Canadian border due to the impact the closure has had on Minnesota. economy.
Canada closed its border with the US for non-essential travelers in March 2020. More recently, emergency ordinances were enacted to mandate that anyone entering the country must be quarantined for 14 days (with some exceptions), provide contact information, and self-check for symptoms of COVID-19. .
The ban on most non-essential travel to Canada from the US is in effect until April 21, although it can be extended.
The boundary restrictions between Minnesota and Canada are more difficult for people living in the northwest corner – the northernmost point of the contiguous United States, home to about 120 year-round residents and a dozen resorts. It is only accessible by land via a 40-mile drive through Manitoba, Canada and two international border crossings.
In winter, residents of the Angle have built a 30-mile ice road on Lake of the Woods to get in and out, but now that spring has arrived, the ice road no longer exists, they are basically residents stranded until the restrictions are lifted.
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How Bad is COVID-19 in Canada?
As in America, it varies depending on where outbreaks occur. According to CBC News, Ontario is expected to go into a four-week shutdown starting Thursday, shutting down all non-essential businesses that have been ordered.
Medical officials from Toronto and Ottawa have urged provincial leaders to issue house arrest, while schools in the Toronto area have switched to distance learning.
Ontario borders the US from Minnesota, east across the Great Lakes to the Ohio Valley. The other Canadian province that borders Minnesota is Manitoba, where health officials are concerned about a variant-powered third wave sparked by Easter weekend rallies.
Meanwhile, a variant-driven spike is also occurring in the westernmost province of Canada, British Columbia, where variants B.1.1.7 and P.1 lead to a rising case level. Both variants are more contagious and can cause more serious illnesses.
B.1.1.7 is now the dominant strain in Minnesota, which was also the first state in the US to use genomic sequencing to confirm a case of P.1. As of last week, the state health department had confirmed only three cases of P.1 in Minnesota.
What is Essential Traveling to Canada?
The following qualify as essential travel, according to Canada’s order:
- Work-related travel. A frontier worker must regularly cross the border to go to his normal workplace and demonstrate a regular travel pattern, which is generally defined as either daily or weekly.
- Trade and trade including truck drivers
- Medical purposes, such as shopping for essential goods such as medicines or goods necessary to maintain the health and safety of a person or family
- Emergency response and public health purposes
- Cross-border trade
- Persons involved in military travel or operations
- Alaskans can travel across Canada to return to their home in Alaska. They must be willing to make a convincing case, so bring supporting documentation such as passport, Alaska driver’s license, utility bills, etc. They are also asked to limit stops along the way.