RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguay had registered the arrival of more than 43,000 foreigners since November 1, when the country reopened its borders to allow the entry of all persons with a complete immunization schedule a negative PCR test.
This was stated this Monday (15) to the press by the country’s Minister of National Defense, Javier García, who highlighted that during these first 15 days, the Armed Forces and the National Customs Administration had worked together to speed up the process much as possible.
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“From November 1 to date, more than 43,000 foreign citizens have entered the country, which means a significant and growing volume with respect to the coming season,” emphasized García, who added that there are about 30 people from the Armed Forces collaborating in this plan.
He also said that there would be moments when the border crossing would be slow because the number of tourists interested in arriving is high. The entry points are few, so he encouraged visitors to make the web entry process to facilitate entry.
Meanwhile, the Minister of Tourism, Tabaré Viera, gave a press conference. He emphasized that there is “good movement of visitor arrivals”, mainly on weekends with a significant occupation of the country’s tourist sites.
“We have a varied offer. Therefore that is supported by domestic tourism that continues but also many visitors. There are many inquiries and already very high percentage reservations at least until January 15; some tour operators tell us that they are already starting to see them for the second half of that month,” he said.
Uruguay reopened the borders on November 1 after 20 months of isolation given the improvement of the sanitary emergency in the country, which began on March 13, 2020, when the first four cases of covid-19 were detected.
Currently, the South American country accumulates 396,549 total cases; 2,020 are people with the disease, and 14 of them are in intensive care centers (ICU), while 6,101 have died.