RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The federal government has restricted the entry of foreigners on international flights to Brazil in order to prevent further spread of the novel coronavirus in the country. The measure has a 30-day period and comes into effect on Monday, March 23rd.
Foreign passengers from China and all European Union member countries, as well as those from Iceland, Norway, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, Malaysia, and South Korea, will be denied entry into Brazil.
According to the inter-ministerial ordinance issued by the Ministries of Health, Justice and Public Safety, Infrastructure and Chief of Staff, published on Thursday night, March 19th, in a special edition of the Federal Gazette, the measure complies with a recommendation from the National Health Surveillance Agency (ANVISA) for exceptional and temporary restrictions on access to the country.
According to the document, the restriction does not apply to: Brazilian citizens, native-born or naturalized; immigrants with prior authorization to live in Brazil; foreigners who will meet a Brazilian family member who is in the country; and anyone authorized by the government in view of the public interest.
Likewise exempted from the measure are: foreign professionals working for international organizations; foreign employees authorized by the Brazilian government; and cargo shipments.
When leaving the Alvorada Palace on March 20th, President Jair Bolsonaro was asked why the ordinance does not include foreigners coming from the United States, since there is an increase in the number of cases in that country. The president believes it is necessary to maintain contact with some foreign countries.
“[The United States] is in a similar situation to ours, not to privilege this or that country. There is not such an increase there, in my opinion, as is being reported. We need some contact from abroad as well and the airlines are stopping because a number of flights, based on the percentage of passengers, are not profitable,” he said.
According to the latest World Health Organization report, released on Thursday, the United States records 7,087 confirmed cases, 3,551 new cases, and 100 deaths from the Covid-19.
Also on Thursday, the federal government ordered the closure of Brazil’s land borders with most neighboring South American countries for 15 days. The first such measure, enacted on Wednesday, March 18th, only applied to Venezuela. Brazilians are still able to enter Brazil from the countries mentioned.
The border with Uruguay will be subject to a specific ordinance. President Jair Bolsonaro said he is negotiating a joint agreement with Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou, just as he did with the other countries.
“The president has just taken office there, we want to do something in common agreement. Now, in fact, it’s almost like a single country, there’s an imaginary line,” Bolsonaro said. “The people say that closing it solved it. Logically, it will mitigate the issue, but it will not solve it,” he said.
The ordinance on land borders published on Thursday does not prevent road freight traffic and excludes residents of twin cities with only land borders, such as Pedro Juan Caballero in Paraguay and Ponta Porã in Mato Grosso do Sul. The Brazilian border with Uruguay also features the twin cities of Rivera, in Uruguay, and Santana do Livramento, in Rio Grande do Sul.
Source: Agência Brasil