OTTAWA -- The mayors of Ottawa and Gatineau are calling on residents to limit interprovincial travel to essential trips to slow the spread of COVID-19.

In a joint statement on Tuesday, Jim Watson and Maxime Pedneaud-Jobin called on capital region residents to limit their travel across the Ontario-Quebec border to a strict minimum.

"This is not the time to go back and forth between your home and the cottage, to shop anywhere other than at local businesses, or to go to parks other than your neighbourhood park,” Pedneaud-Jobin said.

The coronavirus outbreak may not evolve the same way on either side of the river, the mayors said.

Said Watson: “Please stay home, but if you must cross the river to help out family or friends, be sure to take every necessary precaution.”