RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The Uruguayan government wants to relax the criteria for entering the country before the Carnaval vacations – February 26 to March 1.
This includes allowing vaccinated travelers to prove a negative result on a coronavirus test using the antigen method, conducted no more than 72 hours before travel, and making the PCR method non-mandatory (although still valid for those who wish to use it).
Argentina has already relaxed its entry criteria – the PCR method is no longer required – and Brazil is moving in the same direction. Therefore, yesterday the technicians of the Ministry of Public Health met to move forward in line with the region.
During this meeting, an amendment to the protocol was approved, which must be reviewed by the Bureau’s Legal Department before it can be implemented.
There are two main reasons that led the health authorities to change the criteria. The first is epidemiological. The Omicron variant marked a turning point in the pandemic, the number of infected people increased exponentially, and the general symptomatology changed.
Many people tested positive on the diagnostic test but did not become ill. This turnaround prompted the United Kingdom, for example, to stop testing vaccinated people and to stop requiring testing for visitors.
In the case of Uruguay, it should be added that the number of infections stopped increasing from the third week of January; on February 4, the number of deaths with Covid-19 decreased, and from the 5th of the same month, the number of patients stopped growing.
The second reason for the protocol change is operational. It is difficult to perform a PCR test in some countries because of costs and delays. In Argentina, for example, a private PCR test costs about 7,000 Argentine pesos (about US$35 blue), a quarter of the minimum wage.
Other countries, such as the United Kingdom, no longer require testing for those vaccinated, making it difficult for citizens of those countries to take a PCR test to travel. Thus, the authorities’ goal is to facilitate free mobility and promote tourism (one of the economic sectors most affected by the pandemic).
According to sources who attended yesterday’s meeting, “some Mercosur countries, including Argentina, want to introduce free movement for vaccinated people.” This means that travel tests within the bloc countries will be abolished. Uruguay has not yet taken a position on the issue, but sources interviewed said that “they are seeking a regional consensus.”
Also discussed during yesterday’s discussion was the possibility of considering relatives living with the traveler as infected if they can prove they were infected for more than ten days and less than 90 days.
This rule is called “positive by epidemiological link” and is one of the recommendations of the World Health Organization to reduce the number of tests. If approved, these family members will not have to be tested upon entry into Uruguay and will already be considered positive. So far, however, there is no agreement on the matter.
One month after declaring the health emergency, Uruguay allowed entry only in exceptional cases (including human rights, family reunification, and residence in the country). In the last quarter of 2021, the possibility of entry was opened to travelers vaccinated according to the original vaccination schedule (without the third dose).
Or the entry of people who can prove that they have been sick with Covid 19 disease for more than ten days and less than 90 days.
With information from La Nacion