Flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico suspended on Saturday – Telam

The measure is due to the growth of coronavirus cases in these countries

The national government has decided to suspend flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico from Saturday, due to the increase in coronavirus cases in those countries, official sources reported.

The measure will be published in the Official Journal and will take effect from Saturday, according to an administrative decision by the chief of staff, Santiago Cafiero.

These three countries are in addition to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which was already weighed down by the suspension of flights to Argentina.

The new measures

The document also contemplates more controls for Argentines returning from abroad and maintains the ban on the arrival of foreigners for tourist purposes.

Cafiero said the country “is still with a high number of cases” and warned that the region “has community and sustained circulation of these new strains, which are absolutely more contagious and deadly.”

The government has defined that All travelers must undergo a test to be able to board the plane to Argentina, another test upon arrival in the country and another on the seventh day of entry, with the economic cost borne by the passenger., the sources said.

If the test result is positive, upon entering the country, travelers should perform another genomic sequencing test and, with their close contacts, perform isolation in places indicated by national authorities, until their safe transfer to their homes, where applicable; with the stay in these places in charge of the passenger.

In the event that the test result is negative, upon admission, they will be isolated at home and will have to take a new exam to complete it.

Those returning from abroad will be obliged to self-isolate for 10 days, starting from the first test carried out in the country of origin, and it will be checked that those returning from a trip carry out isolation at home..

In the event that the test result is positive, upon entering the country, travelers should perform another genomic sequencing test and, with their close contacts, carry out isolation in places indicated by national authorities.

Likewise, travelers must declare the places where they were in the last 14 days before entering the country.

“We will make border control more rigorous,” Cafiero said in statements to channel C5N and assured that “they will continue to be closed” because it is necessary “to have greater control over those who enter the country”.

In the event of non-compliance with solitary confinement, the authorities must lodge a criminal complaint, in accordance with articles 205 and 239 of the Penal Code, for violation of measures against epidemics and disobedience to public authority..

The national government strongly recommends “not to travel abroad”, indicated the spokespersons, in particular those which constitute groups at risk, “in order to avoid the difficulties and the sanitary conditions required during the re-entry”. and taking into account “rapidly changing epidemiological conditions”.

Regarding the marketing of graduate study trips, tourism agencies must submit protocols to the Ministry of Tourism and Sports, as well as certification of the destination’s testing laboratory.

The measure to suspend flights from Brazil, Chile and Mexico is due to “concern for all variants of Covid-19,” the sources noted.

In the case of Brazil and Chile, this is because they are neighboring countries and have a very high community circulation of the Manaus strain, while Mexico is included in the measure because many people have been infected with from there, albeit with a strain other than Manaus.

The United States was not included because there is no community transmission of the Manaus strain and there were not a large number of infected from that country.

In addition, Cafiero has ruled out for the moment any setbacks in the containment measures because the government wants to “take care of what has been achieved so far and take care of the economic recovery”, and has shown that sectors such that industry and construction “are growing with a dynamism that they did not have for many years, even before the pandemic.”

“If tomorrow we have an increase in cases or if we find circulation of more complicated strains, we will surely take other types of measures,” he warned.