Uruguay Tightens Border Control with Brazil to Prevent Imported Covid-19

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou decided to step up border control with Brazil. He is concerned with the situation in bi-national and border cities where there are cases of Covid-19 on the Brazilian side, and not in Uruguay.

Yesterday, May 6th, Lacalle Pou visited the department of Cerro Largo, along with the Minister of Defense, Javier García, and the commander in chief of the army, Gerardo Fregossi. They visited the military detail located in the city of Noblía, near Aceguá, on the border with Brazil. The visits are part of the strategy of covering the border and tightening control measures, placing health authorities permanently in the border areas, and developing a preventive protocol to protect the Uruguayan population.

“Greater attention, caution, care, Uruguayan sanitary presence on the border, because we know there are infections. The main issue is to prevent a massive infection so that the health capacity of the country is not saturated. Today, fortunately, we are very far from this saturation,” said the Uruguayan president.

The subject was the topic of a meeting on May 5th between Lacalle Pou and several aides, including the secretary of the presidency, Álvaro Delgado; the assistant secretary, Rodrigo Ferrés; the Ministers of Interior, Jorge Larrañaga, and Health, Daniel Salinas; Chancellor Ernesto Talvi, and the president of the Administration of Health Services of the State, Leonardo Cipriani.

The Minister of Health yesterday visited the cities of Artigas and Bella Unión to work on coordination between the Uruguayan and Brazilian public and private health systems. Last Monday, the city of Rivera was visited. Río Branco and Chuy will be inspected shortly.

Uruguay has six border cities with access to Brazilian municipalities: Rivera (in Uruguay) and Santana do Livramento (Brazil); Artigas and Quaraí; Río Branco and Jaguarão; Bella Unión and Barra do Quaraí; Chuy and Chuí; Aceguá and Aceguá.

The president instructed his ministers to increase controls, both at formal borders and on secondary routes that are used as shortcuts to bypass customs controls. Lacalle Pou also called for clear protocols and guidelines for the population of the border areas.

In the Brazilian city of Santana do Livramento, for instance, there are 19 confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus, according to reports from the government of Rio Grande do Sul. In neighboring Rivera, on the Uruguayan side, there are still no cases recorded, as well as in Artigas (border with Quaraí, which has four cases and one death).

In Ponte da Concórdia, which connects the cities of Artigas and Quaraí, a disinfection system used during foot-and-mouth disease was set up for users to sanitize their shoes. In addition, body temperature is monitored using infrared thermometers.

Rio Grande do Sul has, so far, 2,030 confirmed cases of Covid-19 and 83 deaths. The population of the state is over 11 million. Uruguay, which has only 3.5 million inhabitants, records 670 cases of the disease and 17 deaths.

One of the Uruguayan government’s concerns is the start of the sugarcane harvest, which takes place in late May in the city of Bella Unión. Every year, some 300 Brazilians enter Uruguay to work on sugarcane harvesting. According to the secretary of the presidency, there are plans to conduct tests and implement health safety measures, such as the use of facial masks and physical distancing.

“We’re going to carry out massive tests for those who come from Brazil and, although it’s not yet fully determined, we intend to do random tests throughout the [sugarcane] harvest. The ability to anticipate, in almost all areas of government, but especially in health, is critical,” said Lacalle Pou.

“We want to work preventively so that the harvest is safe for the workers and the population of Bella Unión. That is why we will be in contact with all players in the chain, with local authorities, unions, companies, mayors and health authorities, so that together we have the guarantees and controls necessary for a safe harvest with no health risks and no danger of infections in an area where there are no cases,” said Álvaro Delgado.

Although Uruguay has banned foreigners from entering the country, in the context of the health emergency, residents of localities that border Brazil are an exception, as they often live on one side and work on the other side of the border. In Chuí, for instance, only a city street divides the Brazilian side from the Uruguayan, which hinders control enormously.

Foreign Minister Ernesto Talvi will be in touch with Brazilian Chancellor Ernesto Araújo to discuss the matter. “Above all, because there are confirmed cases in Brazil, not in Uruguay. We want to preserve this situation,” Delgado said. The secretary emphasized Uruguayans’ awareness and strict sanitary controls as a determining factor so there are no cases of contamination in binational cities.

Source: Agência Brasil