U.S. borders with Mexico, Canada to close this weekend

At a White House briefing Friday, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that border closures to nonessential travelers from Canada and Mexico would go into effect at midnight Saturday.

Mr. Pompeo also reiterated that the State Department had implemented a Level 4 travel advisory warning Americans against traveling abroad. He said U.S. citizens “should arrange immediate return” unless they intend to remain abroad for an extended time. “If you choose to travel, it may well be fairly disruptive,” he said.

President Donald Trump suggested that immigration would strain health care systems.

“During a global pandemic, they threaten to create a public storm that would spread the infection to our border agents, migrants and the public at large,” Mr. Trump said, referring to people seeking to enter the country.

Speaking on a day when the worldwide death toll stood at more than 10,000, including more than 200 in the U.S., Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that there was a “fundamental public health reason” for closing the northern and southern borders. “Understand that: There’s a public health reason for doing that.”

Dr. Deborah L. Birx, who is leading the administration’s response, detailed a “concerning trend” from Italy: the mortality rate in males is twice as high as females in every age group affected by the virus.”

A similar disparity was evident in China, where researchers found that the death rate for men, 2.8%, was higher than for women, at 1.7%. Men in both China and Italy smoke at higher rates than women, although the gender disparity is not nearly as great in Italy. Other factors, such as women’s generally more robust immune systems, may also be at play.

Dr. Birx said that people under age 20 have been sickened by the disease but that the majority have recovered to date. “This should alert all of us to continue our vigilance to protect our Americans that are in nursing homes,” she said.

Regarding the northern U.S. border, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said Canada would start returning rather than quarantining asylumseekers who cross from the U.S. outside of formal border points.