Coronavirus: Paraguay announced that the vaccination certificate will no longer be mandatory for travelers entering the country

Paraguay announced on Tuesday that the vaccination certificate will not be a mandatory requirement for travelers entering the country, as they will be able to submit a negative coronavirus test taken within 48 hours prior to the trip.

This was confirmed by the Director General of Migration Paraguay, Ángeles Arriola, who told Radio Monumental that this condition was “relaxed”.

According to the head of Migrations, the vaccination test “is within the requirements”, but it is no longer mandatory. “Those who do not have the vaccine definitively or who have incomplete doses, bringing a PCR (practiced) within 48 hours before, could enter the country,” he explained.

He also pointed out that this requirement used to be “exclusive, not today” and explained that the decision addresses “what is happening worldwide”.

The Ministry of Public Health and Social Welfare published on Tuesday an update on the health requirements for entry into the country, according to which travelers over 12 years of age without proof of vaccination must submit a covid test with a negative result.

The document was released a day after the Executive repealed the declaration of health emergency due to the pandemic in force since March 2020, which ended the mandatory use of the mask.

The new measures are known at a time when the numbers of infections and deaths from covid-19 are still falling in the country.

Paraguay recorded 5 deaths and 236 coronavirus infections between April 3 and 9 last. This was reported on Twitter by the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in its report on the evolution of the pandemic, corresponding to epidemiological week 14.

The report estimated 648,682 the cumulative number of infections in the country and 18,786 deaths so far due to the pandemic.

He also explained that during that period, 19 people were hospitalized for the virus, of which six were admitted to intensive care.

The lifting of the health emergency ended the mandatory use of the mask and was due to the decline in positive cases and deaths from the virus.

In this way, masks will not be required in shops, private establishments, restaurants, schools, universities, as well as in social, sporting and religious events, among others.

The Ministry of Health clarified that it will maintain the recommendation to wear masks “preventively and in specific situations”.

The “essential use” of masks will be requested in public and private health services, in nursing homes and people with respiratory symptoms, explained the director general of Health Surveillance, Guillermo Sequera.

It is also “highly recommended” to wear this garment on public transport and in poorly ventilated and crowded enclosed spaces, the official added.

Hernán Huttemann, chief of the Civil Cabinet, clarified, however, that the law on the declaration of economic emergency approved to mitigate the effects of the pandemic will remain in force until next June.

(With information from EFE)

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