US extended non-essential border closure with Mexico and Canada due to delta variant.
The United States government extended the non-essential closure of the borders with Mexico and Canada and this measure is expected to remain in effect until September 21 due to the rise of the delta variant of COVID-19.
Through the Twitter account of the Department of National Security, they explained that they are still working to guarantee the protection of the resumption of travel through the country's border crossings.
"In coordination with medical and public health experts, DHS continues to work closely with its partners in the United States and internationally to determine how to safely and sustainably resume normal travel ," the agency noted.
This limitation of passage has been extended every month since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, which began in March 2020 .
More flexible neighboring countries with arrival of Americans
For its part, Canada allowed United States citizens and permanent residents who are vaccinated to enter the country since last August 9, a situation that Canadians will not be able to do with their neighboring country unless it is for essential cases.
The US travel and tourism industry has not been satisfied with these measures; Some lawmakers in border states have even claimed that the regulations are applied unconsciously, The Hill reported .
As on the Canadian side, Mexico allows US citizens and legal residents to enter the country without any novelty, also those who do so for work, medical and educational reasons , among others, reported The San Diego Union-Tribune .
Edgar Ramírez , attaché of the United States Department of Security in the American embassy in Mexico pointed out that the third wave of infections by COVID-19 "has ruined with the intention of returning to normality", and regretted that the country does not have no option but to extend the border restriction agreement.
Vaccination rate increases in the US
The spread of COVID-19 in the United States continues its march and has spread since the beginning of July through the delta variant; however, the majority of deaths have occurred among people who have not been vaccinated.
In contrast, vaccination statistics in the US have also climbed in the last month. The policies of the Biden Administration have focused on various labor sectors to increase the rigor in vaccines and tests for their federal employees and have insisted that they adopt these measures.
About 70% of eligible U.S. citizens received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.