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The United States-Canada border is in the news again this week. Hot off the heels of Canada announcing that vaccinated Americans would be allowed into the country for tourism as early as August 9th, the United States has announced that they're doubling down on their own border restrictions.
The official word is: the US land borders with Mexico and Canada will remain closed through August 21.
The ban —which was originally set to expire on March 18, 2020 but has been pushed off on a monthly basis since then—prohibits non-essential travel between the North American countries. Only those working in essential services and citizens/residents returning home will be allowed to cross the border by land or ferry. Air travel, however, remains unaffected and is subject to different rules.
The Department of Homeland Security said the restrictions have been extended to decrease the spread of Covid, including the highly contagious delta variant which currently accounts for more than 80 percent of new cases in the United States.
The borders have essentially been closed for more than a year now, although the Department of Homeland Security has stated that it is "working to ensure essential trade and travel remain open."
Want more travel news? Venice has officially banned cruise ships from the city.
And, Hawaii is so crowded right now, some islands have started taxing tourists.