US-Mexico border closure further extended till at least October 21

Mexico announced on Thursday that the borders with the United States will remain closed to control the spread of novel coronavirus infection. The deadline of border closure was set to expire on September 21 after the borders between the countries were closed in March at the Covid-19 outbreak beginning. The Mexican Secretary of Foreign Affairs stated that in light of constant new cases spikes of Covid-19 the borders will remain closed until at least October 21.

The announcement was made days after the US State Department had lowered travel advisory level for Mexico from Level 4 to Level 3. The border closure is only applicable for land and water route. Flights have been operating between US and Mexico since the pandemic onset. Till last week the Mexico travel advisory by State Department was Level 4 nationwide, which means “do not travel”. Even though the level is now 3, many less-visited regions still remain at level 4 for “crime and kidnappings.”

According to the modified Mexico travel advisory the US travelers have been asked to “reconsider travel to Mexico due to Covid-19 and crime and kidnapping.” According to the US Embassy in Mexico the non-essential travel restrictions between the countries has been in place since March 21 to curb the spread of Covid-19 infection.

The US Embassy in Mexico also informed that many popular resort destinations of San Lucas, Cancun and Cozumel have been allowing travelers without any quarantine or Covid-19 tests. The Mexican airports have however been doing health screening of visitors like temperature checks.

The advisory states, “The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued a Level 3 Travel Health Notice for Mexico due to Covid-19. Mexico has lifted stay at home orders in some areas and resumed some transportation and business operations.” The advisory has recommended visiting embassy’s Covid-19 page for further information on pandemic state in Mexico.