The government will restrict flights to Europe, the United States, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico and Chile

In the last hours, the government has ruled out the initial plan to ban the entry and exit of Argentine citizens from Saturday, Yes aims to restrict flights from countries considered at risk. Although there is a sharp increase in cases in the border latitudes, there are concerns about the possibility of entering the country some of the new mutations of coronavirus.

Yesterday, there was an emergency meeting within the committee created in Chief of Staff to analyze the new extension of the Compulsory and preventive social distancing (DISPO) which will govern from Saturday. At the meeting, it was resolved not to cancel all flights from abroad, but to limit them according to the situation in each country. The list is being defined, but in principle it will be United States, Brazil, Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, Mexico, Chile, Panama and the nations that make up Europe. The measure will remain in force until April 9.

El jueves por la tarde, la ministra de Salud, Carla Vizzotti, y su par de Turismo, Matías Lammens, así como la directora de Migraciones, Florencia Carignano, estuvieron a la Casa Rosada para discuss the situación y perfilar las medidas, que se anunciarían Friday.

Wednesday, in the middle of the versions on the possibility of closing national borders to Argentinian citizens, the Ministers of Health provinces met with Vizzotti within the framework of the Federal Health Council (Cofesa) to assess the epidemiological situation, the rate of inoculation and the distribution of vaccines throughout the country. There was no question of restricting the entry and exit of local tourists from abroad, as the Minister of Health of Buenos Aires had slipped, Daniel Gollán. However, the nation’s concern for the situation in other countries was strongly emphasized.

At the end of February, the national administration extended the entry of non-resident foreigners until March 12, that is to say this Friday. With the new provision, the measure would be extended to anyone coming from countries considered dangerous due to contact with strains of coronavirus. What they will be is still unknown. The leadership of the National Ministry of Health analyzes the infection and circulation situation in the provinces, as well as the progress of vaccination throughout the country. Both in Casa Rosada and in the provinces, there are concerns about the inoculation rate and the amount of vaccines that have entered the country so far.

Authorities are concerned about the impact that community circulation of some of the South African, English and Brazilian mutations of COVID-19, present in other countries, could have on the country. Today, there is no certainty as to the effectiveness of the vaccines distributed by the various laboratories against the new variations of the coronavirus.

There is particular concern for Brazil, a hub of contagion for the P-1 variant of the coronavirus, which has recorded around 1,300 daily deaths in recent weeks. The concern concerns the possibility of the situation spreading to the southern states, bordering Argentina. Brazil yesterday beat a death record the day before yesterday, with 1,972 dead, in a risky situation since the intensive care units (ICU) of 25 of the 27 regional capitals are on the verge of collapse or overflow.

The goal of Manaus it has become the predominant program in Brazil, as in many other Latin American countries. The virus is a similar lineage to the South African variant and shares some of the spike protein mutations. In this type of mutations, it is not excluded that may affect the immunity obtained, after infection with other variants.

Yesterday, Vizzotti spoke with ministers about the vaccination rate, which is below expectations. Today, the Public Vaccination Monitor, a tool launched by the national health portfolio to “guarantee the transparency and traceability of vaccinations”, 3,418,965 doses have been distributed to date.

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