Argentina extends border closure due to COVID-19

BUENOS AIRES, Feb. 1 (Xinhua) -- Argentina has decided to keep its borders closed to non-resident foreigners until Feb. 28, in a bid to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the Government Gazette announced on Monday.

The measure carried the signatures of Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers Santiago Cafiero and the ministers of the interior and of health, Eduardo de Pedro and Gines Gonzalez Garcia.

The decision to extend the ban follows "a new report (from the Health Ministry) that recommends the maintenance and adoption of new preventive measures to protect public health," state news agency Telam said.

As a result, direct flights to and from the United Kingdom remain suspended, given the new variant of COVID-19 detected there.

The National Directorate for Migration (DNM) will help determine what steps nationals, foreign residents and non-resident foreigners who are direct relatives of Argentine citizens or residents, need to take to enter the country.

According to the gazette, the DNM and the Health Ministry "will ... determine the flight schedules and the number of passengers who will gradually and daily enter the country, especially via flights from the United States, Mexico, Europe and Brazil, keeping the frequency of passenger flights to the first three destinations reduced by 30 percent and to Brazil by 50 percent."

The decision recommends nationals and foreign residents, especially those over 60 years of age or belonging to high-risk groups, "defer their trips abroad," unless essential.

Argentina registered its first case of COVID-19 on March 3 and confirmed 1,927,239 cases of infection and 47,974 deaths as of Sunday.