
Canada, U.S. preparing to close border to non-essential travel - skookum
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/canada-us-border-1.5501201
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CapricornNoble
As soon as this virus broke out in China, I immediately remembered comments on
HN from ~6 months re: open borders and mass population migration. I argued
that robust border controls would be useful for preventing disease
transmission and was criticized as connecting totally undocumented migrants to
disease was "vile rhetoric". After all, "no one was suggesting restricting
tourism to prevent disease."

Now here we are with a no-shit virus outbreak and neither the Canadians nor
the Mexicans are interested in having Americans freely flowing across their
border.[1]

I'd want to laugh at how the real world tends to shred the fantastical
political/social positions of so many people....if it weren't all so tragic.
:(

[1][https://news.trust.org/item/20200313151928-n3bce](https://news.trust.org/item/20200313151928-n3bce)

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DoreenMichele
Actual germ control is not really an issue most people have historically taken
very seriously.

You can't see germs. They are too small.

Out of sight, out of mind.

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Barrin92
with community spread being so prevalent, what is the logic behind border
closings between two comparable countries? It's not like it matters any more
if one sick person moves from Canada to the US or vice versa any more than any
other movement.

~~~
_fizz_buzz_
It seems like we should follow the model of South Korea. They seem to have the
pandemic under control and almost didn't close any borders. Testing and
tracking seems to do the trick. Not sure why we like drastic measures and not
look at the countries that deal best with it and copy what they do. It's kind
of befuddling to me.

~~~
blueblimp
South Korea is a good model to follow but they were well-prepared, so it's not
simple to copy.

How they could test so early:
[https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1237058531410489345.html](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1237058531410489345.html)

How they can test so many:
[https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1238890311272796160.html](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1238890311272796160.html)

~~~
_fizz_buzz_
Very interesting links. That makes sense of course. Being prepared is always
better than being unprepared.

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jchallis
Wishing good health to our Canadian brothers and sisters. We'll grab a beer
when this is all over.

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tempestn
Kudos to both governments for the way this is being handled. A joint
announcement with considerations for maintaining trade and facilitating
necessary travel, while curtailing unnecessary travel to minimize
transmission. Should be better both for compliance and for long-term goodwill
than a unilateral measure by either side.

Hopefully both sides can continue to employ significant social distancing
while ramping up testing and other measures, so that outbreaks can be brought
under control and this situation can be as temporary as is prudently possible.

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VWWHFSfQ
Nothing but love to the Canadians. USA's all-time best friend.

It's time to close the border.

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nbrempel
This puts Point Roberts WA in a weird spot!

