As a canadian, couldn't we just exempt them from the restrictions for the duration of the pandemic. Like as long as you can't get to it from the rest of the united states, it seems mean to enforce the border restrictions on them

The article doesnt really give you a sense of what the frustration is until you look at a map. I'm surprised it's not in the article. https://goo.gl/maps/bFfhSPPULyBTaNAYA

The map you shared doesn't give me this sense. It appears to be straight-forward in the US. From the map, I can't see why you would need to go to Canada first, to get to the rest of the US.