The announcement will end Canada’s restrictions on non-essential travel from the United States since March last year.

The Canadian government announced that from August 9th, Canada will allow American tourists who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 to enter the country, thus ending the 16-month ban on most non-essential travel between neighboring countries.

In a statement on Monday, the government of Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated that U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been vaccinated at least 14 days before travel will be allowed to enter Canada without isolation.

Canada and the United States-share the world’s longest international land border-restrictions Most non-essential travel In March 2020, with the increase in the coronavirus infection rate.

Businesses in both countries, especially the tourism and aviation industries, demanded the end of these restrictions.

The Canadian government stated that from September 7th, vaccinated tourists from countries other than the United States will be allowed to enter Canada, explaining that the relaxation depends on the epidemiology of COVID-19 is still beneficial.

“The safety and security of Canadians will always come first,” Canadian Health Minister Patty Hajdu said in a statement on Monday.

“With the increase in Canadian vaccination rates and the decrease in cases, we can begin to safely relax border measures. The gradual reopening will allow our health authorities to monitor the COVID-19 situation at home and abroad. Canadians work hard and sacrifice for each other , Because of this, we can safely take the next step,” she said.

In September 2020, a truck left the Canada-U.S. border crossing at the Thousand Islands Bridge in Lansdowne, Ontario [File: Lars Hagberg/Reuters]

Canadian Public Safety Minister Bill Blair said that US officials told him that Washington is likely to extend the US ban by one month. Expires on July 22.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki declined to say whether the move was reciprocal.

Psaki said at a press conference on Monday: “We will continue to review our travel decisions, and we will proceed under the guidance of our public health and medical experts.” “I will not look at it with reciprocal intent.”

Trudeau told reporters on Monday afternoon that Canada has notified Washington of its plan to lift restrictions on American travelers. He said: “We will continue to work with them, but understand and respect each country’s decision on its behavior at the border.”

U.S. health officials warned The COVID-19 infection rate has risen recentlySurgeon Dr. Vivek Murthy said on Sunday that currently almost all coronavirus-related deaths in the country are among tens of millions of unvaccinated people.

“I am very worried about what will happen next because we are seeing more and more unvaccinated cases, especially,” Murti said in an interview with CNN’s State of the Union news program.

“Although, if you are vaccinated, you can prevent hospitalization and death very well, but unfortunately, if you are not vaccinated, this is not the case.”

According to statistics from Johns Hopkins University, since the beginning of the pandemic, the United States has reported more than 34.1 million cases and more than 609,100 coronavirus-related deaths. In Canada, more than 26,400 people have died and more than 1.43 million cases have been recorded.