As of this Thursday, June 16, it will no longer be necessary to present a negative PCR test for covid-19, as a migratory requirement to enter Nicaragua, and it will not be a requirement for air crew and passengers, the Ministry of Health announced separately. (Minsa) and the Nicaraguan Institute of Civil Aeronautics.
“Per the guidelines of the President of the Republic of Nicaragua, Daniel Ortega Saavedra, a negative RT-PCR result for covid-19 will not be requested as a requirement for entry into the country, only the complete vaccination scheme against this disease will be required for entry. ”, indicates the Minsa in a statement.
According to the note, signed by the Minister of Health, Martha Reyes, people who do not have a complete vaccination schedule must present a negative test for covid-19 within 72 hours from taking the sample until entering the country.
?? UPDATE | The Daniel Ortega regime eliminated the requirement to present a negative PCR test for covid-19 to enter the country. A day earlier, CONFIDENCIAL reported that #Nicaragua it was the only Central American country that required it to leave and enter. pic.twitter.com/a4w0pcfIKs
— Confidential Nicaragua (@confidencial_ni) June 17, 2022
With this resolution, Nicaragua joins the rest of the Central American and North American countries in repealing this measure, since it was the only one in the region that kept it in forceas revealed by a note from CONFIDENTIALpublished this Wednesday, June 15.
According to the Minsa, the application of two of the same vaccine or a combination will be considered a complete vaccination scheme. In the case of Johnson & Johnson’s Sputnik Light and Janssen vaccines, one dose will suffice.
Likewise, all vaccines that are approved by the World Health Organization, or the countries of origin, including Covirán and Cuban vaccines, will be accepted. The traveler must present their vaccination card or certificate digitally or physically.
From Central America, El Salvador was the first country to eliminate PCR tests as a migratory requirement and this year Guatemala, Honduras, Belize, Costa Rica and Panama joined, nations that now request only the card or proof of vaccination as proof that the traveler He completed his outline.
In Nicaragua, the migratory health requirement was imposed on July 14, 2020 and was the only mandatory prevention measure established by the Government of Ortega and his wife and vice president, Rosario Murillo, to contain and control the transmission of covid-19. 19. However, this has been used by the regime as an excuse to deny entry to foreigners and “ungrateful” nationals in the country.
The last case that was known was that of the Nicaraguan journalist Tifani Roberts, who one day before this resolution, denounced that she was denied entry into the country because the Minsa did not accept her PCR test.
This is the email I received from @Avianca hours before my flight. Why do the Nicaraguan authorities use the airline as immigration agents? They do not have the courage to leave evidence of what they do because they know it is a flagrant violation of human rights. pic.twitter.com/4viUQSnzab
— Tiffany Roberts (@TifaniRoberts) June 16, 2022
“Dear passenger: The proof sent was not accepted by the Nicaraguan authorities. His entry into Nicaragua has not been authorized by the Nicaraguan immigration authorities. You will not be allowed to board. Reason: defined by the Nicaraguan Migration. Please contact the Nicaraguan Embassy”, says the email he received from the airline with which he would travel.
The decision to suspend PCR tests as a travel requirement occurs as a result of the high levels of vaccination against covid-19 that have been achieved worldwide. This week the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) pointed out that they as organizations do not agree to request vaccination cards as a migratory requirement, but even so they respect the autonomous decision of each nation.
Last April, reporter Camilo Loret de Mola and cameraman César Torero, from the television channel Mega TV, based in the United States, were deported to El Salvador for “problems with their covid-19 exam.” The pattern has been repeated with relatives of political prisoners.
For two years, health regulations indicated that to travel to Nicaragua, travelers had to fill out a form from the Ministry of the Interior (Migob), where they provide personal information — name, profession, telephone number, passport — at least seven days before the trip. Likewise, they sent the airline a negative PCR test so that the Minsa authorized entry into the country.
The business of PCR tests
In Nicaragua, the PCR tests, essential to confirm the spread of SAR-CoV-2, were limited for the population. The Minsa established a juicy business with the sale of tests for people who traveled to countries that required them as a migratory requirement. Only the National Diagnosis and Reference Center (CNDR) and the National Health Research Laboratory (INIS), inaugurated in August 2021, were authorized to perform this procedure at a cost of 150 dollars.
Two years after this business was established, it is publicly unknown how many PCR tests the Minsa has sold and how much the profit has been for them. The latest data on the number of tests carried out indicates that since 2020 they have taken 196,380 samples, but the detail is not specified if these include those carried out for travel reasons.
The budget execution reports do not detail the amount of income for the tests carried out. However, the item “income received from the sale of goods and services” reflects an increase of 535% for “health services and permits”, which could be related to PCR tests.
According to official data, before the pandemic, 130.66 million córdobas entered the government coffers for this item, in 2020 the amount earned was C$ 188.08 million, which represents an increase of 43.9%; but in 2021, 1,193 million córdobas (more than 34 million dollars) were collected, which is equivalent to six times more than the previous year.
This sum is close to a quick calculation made between the number of travelers who left Nicaragua for countries that require the PCR test, since it is not a mandatory requirement to leave the country. According to data from Foreign Migration, in 2021 there were 372,437 departures, of these 99,702 people traveled by air to Canada, the United States, Panama, Spain and other European countries that require negative tests as a migration requirement. Only in these trips the Minsa would have collected 14,955,300 dollars in tests.
Petition to remove “obstacles”
The relaxation of this health measure will allow flights to and from Nicaragua to be restored in the medium term. Last April, businessmen consulted by CONFIDENCIAL, pointed out that this was one of the obstacles that prevented the growth of tourism in the country.
“You have to remove the covid tests and the restrictions imposed, to allow airlines like American Airlines and the others to come, because right now there are only airlines from other countries flying to Nicaragua. These companies charge what they want for a ticket, because there is no competition, and those high prices affect the sales of the entire tourist chain”, he explained.
Another of the businessmen, consulted anonymously for fear of reprisals, explained that compared to the previous year there was a slight increase that is directly linked to the return of some airlines, and this has the immediate effect of increasing the flow of travelers.
For now, only the airlines Aeroméxico, Copa Airlines and Avianca operate in Nicaragua, while United Airlines and Spirit Airlines continue without returning to the country. The demand for travel has also triggered the increase in charter flights carried out mainly by Caribbean and Venezuelan airlines, including: Conviasa, Aruba Airlines, Caribbean Airlines and others.
