In the last hours, Brazil and Uruguay eased the sanitary restrictions for international travelers established in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. Both countries determined to remove the requirement to present a negative Covid-19 test for those vaccinated passengers. Now, with the new regulations, travelers seeking to cross neighboring borders will only have to present proof of vaccination. In the case of Brazil, the measures were released last night in the official gazette, following a recommendation made last week by the National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa), the federal regulatory body for Health. According to the legislation of the neighboring country, Brazilians or foreigners residing there should not present proof of vaccination as a requirement. On the other hand, unvaccinated travelers will have to present a negative Covid-19 test with a date not exceeding one day before their departure, although they will no longer have to comply with a mandatory quarantine of 14 days. The Brazilian government also eliminated Anvisa’s pandemic health questionnaire for travelers, which has been required since December 2020.
On the other hand, the Uruguayan president, Luis Lacalle Pou, published a decree where he determined the elimination of the negative test for vaccinated people who enter the country. According to the text, the provision responds to a new evaluation “of the measures adopted and the evolution of the pandemic that motivates the situation of national health emergency” in Uruguay.The decree indicates that only the negative result of a PCR test or antigens will be requested from “those who have not taken the Covid-19 disease within the last 10 to 90 days prior to embarkation or arrival in the country and do not prove to have received the single dose or both doses.” The requirements do not apply to children under 6 years of age and establish that those who have been diagnosed with Covid-19 or who present symptoms of the disease within seven days prior to their entry will not be able to enter the country. In addition, those vaccinated who do not register recent symptoms will not need to have the coronavirus screening swab. Also, the obligation to wear a mask during travel and arrival and to have health coverage when entering will remain in force, along with other measures established during the pandemic.
