The government enabled those who are vaccinated against coronaviruswho enter without the need to present a negative test, according to a decree Signed this Friday. The measure will also apply to who have had the disease within the last 10 to 90 days prior to arrival in the country.
“Those who have not had the covid-19 disease within the last 10 to 90 days prior to shipment or arrival in the country and do not prove they have received the single dose or both doses, depending on the type of vaccine supplied, against the SARS virus CoV-2 approved by their country of origin, they must additionally prove a negative result of the SARS CoV-2 virus detection test (by molecular biology technique PCR-RT, antigens or diagnostic techniques that were approved by the Ministry of Public Health , carried out no more than 72 hours before the start of the trip (provided that the passenger is in transit), in a laboratory enabled in the country of origin or transit,” the document states.
Those under 6 years of age are excepted, although they must comply with other measures such as the use of a mask, social distancing, among others. People who have been diagnosed with covid-19 or have symptoms of the disease, within the last seven days prior to arrival in Uruguay, will not be able to enter the country.
President Luis Lacalle Pou He had referred to the issue this Thursday in Punta del Este, and said that the decree would be ready for this Friday or next Monday, depending on a conversation he would have with the Undersecretary of Public Health, Jose Luis Satdjian. Both would discuss the conditions of entry into the country.
In addition, the president announced that he will meet next Monday with the minister of the portfolio, Daniel Salinas, in order to evaluate the relevance of the health emergency regulated by decree 93/020.
“Every day I wake up with the intention that this emergency cease”President Lacalle Pou said on radio El Espectador at the beginning of March, referring to the health emergency. Although the government has been updating articles – as it did this Friday – as health problems decrease, the elimination of the decree in its entirety is delayed for “both health and administrative” reasons, official sources told The Observer.
The main reason for hitting the brakes is coronavirus background, which has planned financing for the value of US$ 400 million for 2022, as announced by the Minister of Economy, Azucena Arbeleche. This fund, which in 2021 distributed US$1,153 million, finances everything from unemployment and sickness subsidies, to hospital expenses, passing through exemptions to sectors affected by the pandemic and payments to mutualists for swabs. The president affirmed that US $ 1 million per day was paid for tests to detect covid-19.
