Argentina is reopening international borders and easing up COVID restrictions for fully vaccinated foreign tourists starting Nov. 1, government officials announced at a press conference on Tuesday.
The country also approved a plan to gradually reopen its borders from Sept. 24, when fully vaccinated residents entering for essential reasons will no longer need to quarantine on arrival.
The same benefit will be extended to all immunized international travelers on Nov, 1. Unvaccinated people are also welcomed but they must observe a 7-day mandatory quarantine.
On Oct. 1, visitors will see the return of most commercial and social activities as the government moves to boost tourism and host sports, all pandemic-hit sectors.
For instance, the nation’s football stadiums will also resume activities which were halted in March last year.
The 18-month border closure hugely disrupted Argentina’s economy, making it lose up to 9.9 percent of its GDP.
With the current low levels of Covid-19 and the summer season around the corner the government expects to revive its battered economy.
Carla Vizzoti, Argentina’s Health Minister is confident the country is now in a good position to not only reopen for tourism but also restart most of its indoor activities, “We are in a very positive moment (…) we are moving towards the full recovery of activities,” she said.
To achieve these goals, the government has accelerated its nationwide vaccination drive.
So far, 49,729,347 million vaccines have been administered, which means the country has vaccinated 46.4% of its population.
The government also said that from Oct. 1, face masks will be mandatory only to access indoor venues, as well as to use public transport.
The country still needs to avoid another coronavirus wave. The good news is that Argentina has gone from seeing almost 800 daily deaths at the end of July to less than 80 as of today.
Additionally, it has secured enough vaccine stock to immunize its entire population over the months to come.