Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro defines protocols for the cruise travel season

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – With the arrival of the cruise season, which will start on November 5th in Rio, the Brazilian sanitary requirements to travel on the ships with more safety are changing. At the beginning of the pandemic, these ships became centers of coronavirus transmission.

Now, tourists will have to submit RT-PCR testing up to 72 hours before boarding, or 24 hours in case of antigen tests, and fill out the Traveler’s Declaration on health status. They will also be required to provide proof of a complete vaccination scheme, with more than 14 days since the last dose was applied.

The use of masks will be mandatory, as well as the distance of 1.5 meters, in the main points of the vessels, such as restaurants. The sanitary protocol also includes random surprise testing of at least 10% of passengers at the boarding terminal and during the journey. If positive, the traveler will be taken to a specific isolation cabin.

The suspected and confirmed cases will be monitored by the Health Surveillance, which will maintain contact with family members or people indicated in the boarding passes and accompany the isolation.

So far, the schedule has only ships with origin and itineraries through Brazil. The first ships will have as their main route Santos – Ilha Grande, on Rio’s Green Coast.

The decision

Representatives from the National Council of Municipal Health Secretaries, the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), and the states and cities that are scheduled to receive cruise ships met on Friday (10/22) to align the health protocols for the season.

At the meeting, Anvisa presented the main points of the health protocol for tourists. According to Rio’s Municipal Health Secretary, Daniel Soranz, the measures provided for are the most appropriate, contributing to the maintenance of the city’s epidemiological scenario. “It is a safe and organized protocol. We approve the initiatives,” he told Metrópoles.