TORONTO — The U.S. and Canada are poised to extend their agreement to keep their shared border closed to non-essential travel to Aug. 21, but a final confirmation has not been given, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday.

The agreement would likely extend the closure by another 30 days. The official was not authorized to speak publicly ahead of an announcement this week, and spoke on condition of anonymity. The restrictions were announced on March 18 and were extended in April, May and June.

One of Canada’s highest-profile medical experts throughout the COVID-19 crisis, Dr. Isaac Bogoch, told the CBC last week that he wouldn’t be surprised if the Canada-U.S. border stays closed until into 2021.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said this week that a decision on the border would be announced “in the coming days.”

“We’re going to continue to work hard to keep Canadians safe and to keep our economies flowing and we will have more to say later this week,” Trudeau said.

The U.S. has more confirmed cases and deaths from COVID-19 than any country in the world while Canada has flattened the epidemic curve.

Source: The Canadian Press