Chile does not open land crossings; tourism sector considers season as already lost

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The appearance of the Omicron variant seems to have dashed the hopes of the Chilean tourism sector for the summer season, which weeks ago was auspicious and which this Tuesday (30) has more doubts than certainties.

According to La Tercera, the announcements were made on Monday by the new Undersecretary of Public Health, who replaced Paula Daza. The Covid-19 advisory board recommended postponing the opening of borders and suggested residents travel within the trans-Andean country.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Chile

The opening of land borders has been canceled for the time being, although entry by air is still maintained. These measures set off a red light in the sector, which has lost all optimism for the high season.

“We hope that the government’s decision to postpone the opening of land border crossings is only a postponement to see what the situation is like between now and the next two weeks, and then we will have certainty and peace of mind that as of January 1 we will be able to have the border crossings open,” said the executive vice-president of Fedetur (Federation of Tourism Companies), Helen Kouyoumdjian.

The president of the Tourism Commission of the CNC (National Chamber of Commerce), Tomás Sahli, said: “We are trying to be prudent because, according to experts, as long as the whole population is not vaccinated, new variants will continue to appear. As we have already mentioned in previous opportunities, we run the risk of losing the second consecutive high season, which would entail the loss of jobs and the closure of SMEs.”

As Memo Diario indicates, there is uneasiness in the business sector, and they ask for certainties waiting for a hopeful measure facing the hot days. “We are in December, and we consider January as lost. What hurts us most is that if they authorize people to leave Chile, the one who travels can come back infected. I think this is not fair,” expressed the president of hoteliers, Alberto Pirola.

On Monday, the government announced the prohibition, effective Wednesday, of the entry of non-resident passengers who have been in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, eSwatini, and Mozambique during the last 14 days.

This is not all, since this Tuesday, theauthorities established that any person entering Chile without a complete vaccination schedule would have to do seven days of compulsory isolation. With a full vaccination schedule, it will be necessary to wait, also in isolation, for the negative result of the coronavirus test, which may take up to 2 days.

IN FIGURES

Chile is stable in terms of Covid-19 cases, but a slight increase in the last weeks and the appearance of Omicron has set off alarm bells in the authorities.

There were 1,534 new cases nationwide this Wednesday, with a test positivity rate of 2.58%. Meanwhile, 187 beds for critical patients are available.