Nicaragua finally eliminated this Thursday the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) or Covid-19 test, to enter the country, health authorities reported in a statement issued at night.
The only requirement that Managua will establish as a preventive measure for the pandemic, is the vaccination card with the complete scheme, otherwise a negative PCR result for Covid must be presented, with 72 hours from the taking of the sample for entry. to the country.
Nicaragua was the last Central American country to require Covid-19 tests, despite the fact that it minimized the pandemic by calling massive events, contrary to the indications of the health authorities.
The measure had hit the tourism sector, which had plummeted in the face of multiple demands from Nicaragua.
The immigration requirement was imposed since July 2020 and caused criticism from abroad, especially from thousands of Nicaraguans who are in Costa Rica for work reasons and who constantly traveled to Managua.
In fact, in that month there was a crisis after the entry into force of the regulations when some 300 Nicaraguans, including children and the elderly, applied to enter the country without any success.
The Covid test was eliminated in Central America first by the government of El Salvador in November 2021; later Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica and Panama.
A trial for political purposes
The sanitary measure was used by the Ortega government for political purposes, according to various reports, such as one published by International Amnesty entitled: COVID-19: The global attack on freedom of expression is having a dangerous impact on the public health crisis.
It mentions that during the pandemic, governments used laws to silence independent information and attack people who criticize the government’s direct response to Covid19.
Nicaragua required the Covid-19 test for a period of no more than 72 hours, a period in which, according to some critics, the entry of foreigners and opponents into the country was carefully assessed. In many cases they were denied entry, as happened recently with the journalist Tifani Roberts, from the Univisión network.
During the electoral context in 2021 something similar happened, according to various reports by reporters from international networks.
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