The medical officer of health for WindsorEssex is urging the federal government to lockdown the CanadaU.S. border over the holidays
Windsor's medical officer of health is urging the federal government to lockdown the Canada-U.S. border over the holiday season.
Dr. Wajid Ahmed says, despite having restrictions in place, people are slipping through the cracks and he's worried some may travel to see family increasing the potential for the spread of COVID-19.
Ahmed believes only health care workers and goods being transported should be crossing the border in an effort to put a stop to escalating COVID-19 cases.
He says some people are not taking the pandemic seriously.
"We know some people are planning to travel during the holidays and I want to remind everyone borders are closed and are open only for essential travel. The border should be completely closed for everyone else who is not a health care worker or who doesn't work in the transportation industry," he says.
Ahmed says some who are crossing are not reporting they did.
"People are crossing and not reporting their travel. We need to look into that. As much as we're seeing the cases increasing everywhere, it is also important for us to do everything that we can to keep our community safe," he says.
Ahmed says different definitions for "essential" on each side of the border has led to confusion.
"What we're noticing is that not everyone crossing the border should be. So we just wanted to give out a clear message that this is not acceptable. We don't want to see more cases or more people travelling," he adds.
As it stands now, the Canada-U.S. border remains closed to non-essential travel until at least December 21 — last week Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated the closure will likely be extended into the new year.
With files from Rob Hindi