If you've been living through the worst of the coronavirus pandemic for as long as the United States has, you might be pretty envious of the comparative calm just across the border in Canada.

Indeed, some Americans have even gone so far as to sneak into their northern neighbour, despite a border ban that's been in place since the pandemic began.

Many of them have been exploiting what has become known as the "Alaska loophole".

In March, Canada closed its borders to all foreign nationals.

But those who discovered the loophole have reportedly been telling authorities they're only passing through Canada on their way to the US state of Alaska.

Back in June for example, seven Americans were fined for illegally crossing into Canada to go on a hike.

Foreigners are also apparently arriving by sea, either on sailboats or luxury yachts.

It wasn't until the end of July that the border authority attempted to close the loophole, announcing that travellers heading to Alaska would need to take the most direct route to their destination.

"The border isn't actually fully closed, it's just closed to 'non-essential travel', which nobody has firmly defined," Colin Furness, an epidemiologist and professor at the University of Toronto, told the ABC.

"There are still something like 200,000 people crossing the border into Canada every week from the US. I wish that number was much lower, because people have to self-quarantine and our resources to enforce [and] monitor that are pretty weak."

Amid reports that this might be happening and that some Canadians were beginning to act out against American vehicles, premier of British Columbia John Horgan reminded Canadians to "be calm, be kind" at the end of July.

Closing the border is not a good way, but it is estimated that Canada has no better way. After all, the epidemic in the United States is so serious. In this regard, we should also be vigilant.