Argentina will restrict flights from Brazil, Mexico and Chile as part of a plan to combat COVID-19

Argentina will be suspending flights from Mexico, Brazil and Chile as of Saturday as part of a plan to prevent different strains of the coronavirus from entering the country.

The South American nation announced the move Thursday as it prepares itself for a second wave of infections.   

The government said in a statement that the measures include tests and mandatory isolation for citizens who return from other regions.

‘Until further notice, regular flights will be suspended from… Chile, Brazil, Mexico,’ the statement read. 

Argentina as of Saturday will be suspending flights arriving from Brazil, Mexico and Chile as part of an initiative to prevent different strains of the coronavirus from entering the country and to prepare itself for a second wave of the pandemic. Argentina has reported 55,092 confirmed coronavirus deaths and 2,278,115

Workers lower a coffin at Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday as family members of an individual who died of the coronavirus observe. Argentina on Thursday announced it will suspend flights arriving from Brazil, Mexico and Chile as part of an attempt to prevent the entry of coronavirus strains from those countries

Workers lower a coffin at Vila Formosa cemetery in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Thursday as family members of an individual who died of the coronavirus observe. Argentina on Thursday announced it will suspend flights arriving from Brazil, Mexico and Chile as part of an attempt to prevent the entry of coronavirus strains from those countries

A group of people carry a coffin of a person in the new section of the San Miguel Xico Cemetery in Valle del Chalco, Mexico, on Thursday. Mexico is one of three countries that was placed on a travel ban list by Argentina's government

A group of people carry a coffin of a person in the new section of the San Miguel Xico Cemetery in Valle del Chalco, Mexico, on Thursday. Mexico is one of three countries that was placed on a travel ban list by Argentina’s government

A similar policy is already in place for flights from Britain and Northern Ireland.

Data collected by John Hopkins University showed that Argentina had registered 2,278,115 cases of COVID-19 and 55,092 deaths as of Friday.

The government has become increasingly concerned with the state of the pandemic in neighboring Brazil, which has 12,320,169 cases and 303,462 deaths – both figures coming in second to the United States.

Mexico is third in the world with 200,211 coronavirus deaths, and has reported 2,214,542 infections. Chile has documented 954,843 cases and 22,587 deaths.

As part of the Argentine government’s preventive plan, returning passenger’s will have to provide a negative PCR test before boarding the flight.

Travelers arriving in Argentina will will have to cover the cost of their mandatory tests and a second one that has to be taken seven days later. Furthermore, any individual who has a positive test will be required to cover the cost of their own lodging at a location chosen by the government for the remainder of their quarantine.

A container containing the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines is transported after it was loaded off an Aerolineas Argentinas flight at an airport in Argentina on Monday. More than 3 million people in Argentina have been vaccinated for the virus

A container containing the Russian Sputnik V coronavirus vaccines is transported after it was loaded off an Aerolineas Argentinas flight at an airport in Argentina on Monday. More than 3 million people in Argentina have been vaccinated for the virus

Residents who test negative for the coronavirus will have to comply with an obligatory quarantine at their homes for 10 days.

A total of  3,365,839 people have been vaccinated in Argentina. 

Santiago Cafiero, the Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, would not rule out imposing additional restrictions in the near future, according to newspaper La Nación.

‘The pandemic taught us that we should never be confident,’ Cafiero said. ‘If tomorrow we have an increase in cases or if we find complicated virus mutations, we will surely take other measures.’

Migration data records show that at least 25,000 Argentine residents are traveling outside of the country at the moment.

‘Do they have the right to leave? Yes, but we have the right to tell them that they will have more requirements and that they will have much fewer flights,’ said Felipe Solá, Argentina’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Worship.

‘We advise against people leaving the country. Because the problem is not going to be getting out, the problem is going to be coming back.’