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San Pablo’s plane lands in Ezeiza on time on Friday at 10:20 p.m. The Airbus 330 Aerolineas Argentinas hits Argentine soil with 203 passengers and 40 free seats. It was the last international flight of the night and the only one of the 55 that arrived that day of Brazil, the country that most alerts epidemiologists and public officials about the coronavirus crisis the neighboring state is alive and due to the possible importation of new cases with the Variant of Manaus, more contagious and perhaps more deadly.
Gabriel Arribalzaga, from Moreno, is expecting a friend. “Coming from Brazil and with the health crisis they have, it is a long time ago how they entered the country”, gives his opinion and explains: “Here they have to arrive with a PCR done, but there is no absolute safety with the test, because you may have been infected and it may take a few days to leave. If you go to the City they do a second test as soon as you arrive which is good. But after, no one controls everything the person quarantines for seven days. No one”.
“In Brazil, everything exploded badly”, he continues, arms crossed, in front of Terminal A. “My friend is from Porto Alegre and he is dealing with doctors from there, who told him that they were burying people at all costs. He’s a tall person with heart problems, he’s at risk. He already wanted to come and live here in Argentina and that made him finish deciding, because if the coronavirus catches him, he will strike him, ”he told this newspaper.
The Ezeiza arrivals hall. When entering the country, a quarantine of a minimum of 7 days must be fulfilled. Photo Enrique García Medina
A few meters away, Facundo Curzo (28) leaves and rushes to align with the government operation in Buenos Aires to obtain the third PCR of the week. “I was going to travel on Monday, but my flight was postponed to this Friday. I had already done the first test, which brought in around 8,000 pesos. But to travel this Friday, I needed to do it again. So I had to pay the 8,000 pesos twice. And here, they tell me that I have to do it again to enter the capital, ”he tells this newspaper.
The medical student Bruna Dos Santos Ferreira Silva (33), for her part, discovers that she will have to pay 2 to 500 pesos: “As I still do not have a residence, the test is not free for me. », She explains, walking forward with her boyfriend to take a new sample. Then they will have to quarantine for 10 days, but that’s fine with him. “Over there in Brazil, people are deniers, the population is also larger and there is now the question of new variants, ”he said to himself.
Since December, land border crossings have been closed to Argentines and foreigners, and the plane is the only means of passenger transport allowed.. Those traveling from abroad must undergo PCR analysis with a maximum of 72 hours in advance to determine if there is contagion of COVID-19. And they must comply with 7 or more days of quarantine at an informed address, up to 10 days after collection of the PCR sample.
Flights to Brazil will be reduced by 30%. Photo Enrique García Medina
Compliance with these provisions is controlled in a disparate manner, as he could observe Bugle in Ezeiza. While airlines verify that passengers present the PCR test certificate upon check-in at the port of departure, then migration staff recheck it upon entry into the country – not all of them -, compliance with the quarantine is left to the civic responsibility of travelers. There is no post control.
To this are added the provisions of each jurisdiction. “Are you going to the City or are you staying in Buenos Aires?” Is the first thing every passenger entering Ezeiza airport hears. They are promoters of the government of Buenos Aires, who are trying to persuade passengers to take a PCR test or antigens which take less than 10 minutes and which will be carried out in containers located 30 meters from the exit of the airport building. The test, which can be done by saliva or smear, is free for Argentines and residents, and has a cost of 2,500 pesos for foreigners. The results are sent by WhatsApp in less than 24 hours.
Those who say they are staying in the province or will be passing through the capital for a period of less than 48 hours are excluded from the queue and there is no check to detect if a passenger is lying to the when leaving the airport. Again: control is up to everyone’s will. And that, for domestic flights – where PCR is not required before traveling – is key.
In the province of Buenos Aires, on the other hand, no test is required to enter. “I read in the Nation’s affidavit that I have to do seven or ten days of quarantine, I don’t remember very well. Anyway, I live alone, so I have no problem – says Juan (42) -. When I arrived here, I met people from the city at the airport, but from the province, there was no one to explain anything to you ”.
“There, in Brazil, they are Covid deniers,” explains Bruna Dos Santos, arriving from São Paulo with her boyfriend this Friday at Ezeiza airport. Photo Enrique García Medina
A taxi driver told the newspaper that “many of those arriving from domestic flights and living in the province want to take the Covid test so as not to put the family at risk and have to pay for it.” Right in front of the exit of Terminal A, where national and international arrivals are currently concentrated, is the white tent of the Covid-19 PCR test center, which belongs to the airport, which is open from 8 am to 8 pm daily. “They charge 6 thousand pesos”, the man details.
Brazil is in the eye of the storm, with a record number of deaths from Covid. The frequency of passenger flights connecting Argentina to the neighboring country had already been reduced by 50%, on the basis of administrative decision 155/21, published on February 28, given the alarming increase in coronavirus cases in this country .
But the fear of the Manaus variant, as well as pressure to close borders, among other things, the Minister of Health of Buenos Aires, Daniel Gollán, prompted the national government to announce on March 12 that this restriction would be stepped up by 20%.
In this way, Administrative Decision 219/2021 establishes a 70% reduction in the frequency of passenger flights to and from Brazil. Meanwhile, the resolution sets that frequencies will remain reduced by 30% for flights to Mexico, Europe, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Panama and Chile; and they will be reduced to 40% for the United States. As, flights to and from the UK continue to be suspended, following the emergence of the new variant of Covid-19 in this country.
The government of Buenos Aires is carrying out free Covid tests for those arriving at Ezeiza airport. Photo Enrique García Medina
Airlines are already canceling flights to accommodate the new reduced schedule. “I was already going to take the plane on March 17 from São Paulo and they canceled my flight. Here, the protocols are better than in Brazil. There, I felt insecure, because people do not wear mask and do not want to do tests. They do. not even believe that the coronavirus is real, starting with Bolsonaro, “explains Emily Souza, a member of São Paulo who lives in Buenos Aires. Juan Pablo Cecchinato has also had several rescheduled flights. “I had to do the PCR at San Pablo airport, which cost me 350 reais. I did it there for a matter of safety, because there are other laboratories which do not accept them, as they told me ”, he tells this newspaper and adds that They asked for it when registering, but not when entering the country, at migration control.
Clovis Adalberto Belini pushes two suitcases. He is also Brazilian and studies medicine in Buenos Aires. “Everything is horrible there. At least here, if you don’t have medical coverage, the government covers the test. I think it’s good that tourist flights between Brazil and Argentina are closed, but not the flights we live for here, ”he thinks and hurries to pass the tests of the municipal government.
AS
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