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Ottawa, May 21 (IANS): Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that restrictions along the country's border with the US against non-essential travel has been extended another month until June 21 to stem the spread of Covid-19.
"To protect your health and limit the spread of Covid-19, we're extending the measures currently in place by another 30 days. Non-essential travel between our two countries remains restricted until June 21," the Prime Minister tweeted on Thursday.
The restriction, which was enforced in March 2020, has been renewed every month since, reports Xinhua news agency.
Essential workers such as truckers and emergency service providers, as well as vital healthcare workers including nurses who live and work on opposite sides of the border, are exempt from the restrictions.
Canada has so far reported a cumulative total of 1,347,445 Covid-19 cases, with 25,111 deaths.
While the country's national-level data show continued declines in disease activity with an average of 5,227 cases reported daily over the latest seven day period, a decrease of 25 per cent from the week prior, daily case counts remain very high, the Public Health Agency of Canada said on Thursday.
There are growing calls to reopen the Canada-US border as Covid-19 vaccination rates rise in both countries.
The Canadian Chamber of Commerce CEO Perrin Beatty said the 14-month closure has created "enormous difficulties" for businesses, particularly for the tourism sector.
Some C$2 billion worth of trade crossed the Canada-US border every day, and before the Covid-19 lockdown last year, about 300,000 people reportedly crossed daily.
