Traffic at the border between Canada and the U.S. has certainly been slower since March 21, when a restriction on non-essential travel came into place. It's going to get even quieter in Estevan and at other ports of entry around the country as border service hours as reduced to prevent the spread of COVID-19. 

The Canada Border Services Agency announced on the morning of Wednesday, April 15 that as of just before the end of that day, they would be reducing hours at a total of 27 ports, including the Port of Estevan. Carievale, Northgate, and Oungre will all be under the new restricted hours, while North Portal will remain open 24/7. 

The new hours will see all four of those ports, Carievale, Estevan Highway, Northgate, and Oungre, open from 8:00 in the morning to 4:00 in the afternoon every day, seven days a week

"Economic supply chains and trade will remain open and we will work to ensure that access to goods and services is not interrupted," they said in a release. " As such, these changes should not affect commercial traffic."

The release added that  Indigenous people would continue to be able to move within and between their communities, and would be able to provide and access essential goods and services.

There is no timetable for this new reduction of service, as the CBSA said they will monitor it and adjust it as the public health situation dictates. The current 30-day restriction on non-essential travel, including tourism and recreation, started on March 21 and would be lifted on April 20 unless renewed. 

"Travellers who are granted entry into Canada will be informed of Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC)’s mandatory 14-day self-isolation requirement," the release continued. "This is mandatory for all coming into Canada even if they do not have any symptoms, as they are at risk of developing symptoms and infecting others. If they do have symptoms, they will be provided a mask and referred to a health professional."

The CBSA added that travellers will also be required to provide their contact information and place of isolation to help PHAC monitor and enforce compliance with the 14-day self-isolation requirement. 

The United States has the world's highest number of confirmed cases of COVID-19. As of this writing, Saskatchewan has over 300 total cases, but the recoveries outnumber the active cases.