Covid-19 Surge in Uruguay Closes Borders from December 21st to January 10th

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou announced on Wednesday, December 16th, the implementation of a set of restrictive measures given the increase in the number of Covid-19 cases in the country, which aim, among other things, to reduce crowds and interdepartmental transport to 50 percent from December 21st to January 10th.

The most significant of the measures announced on Wednesday is the closure of the country’s borders on those same dates. “We regrettably decided to suspend access to the country between December 21st and January 10th”. Cargo transport and those who have already bought tickets to travel to the South American country will be exempted from the measures.

“Entry will be suspended between December 21st and January 10th by any route. Uruguayans or residents who have purchased their tickets by December 16th, 2020 will be exempt from the measures”. The document released by the Presidency of Uruguay, which details the measures, states that “cargo transportation will not be included in this ban.”

All public shows will also be suspended between these dates, public sector licenses will be anticipated and remote work will be mandatory, said Lacalle Pou. Pou’s administration urged the private sector to consider taking the same measures. Lastly, for Christmas and New Year’s celebrations, social gatherings will be limited to a maximum of 10 people.

Regarding bars, restaurants and pubs, they will remain as before: they will be required to close at midnight.

“If until now Uruguay has had positive numbers when compared to other nations, this is due to the behavior of Uruguayans,” the president acknowledged at another point in his speech.

“The second wave in the world is our first wave for some weeks now,” said Lacalle Pou. “Now we are entering a new phase that will end when the vaccine comes,” he added.

After the Government’s announcement, the “new projects”, as defined by local media, will be addressed by Parliament as “serious and urgent” this week, so the recess is expected to be called off. The parliamentary sessions will be held on Friday.

Uruguay has accumulated several weeks of an exponential increase in positive cases – with a record of 533 in one day – which has forced the government to work with the aim of “flattening the curve”. According to data provided by the Ministry of Public Health (MSP), on Wednesday 476 new Coronavirus cases were detected in the country.

According to expert Rafael Radi, coordinator of the Honorary Scientific Advisory Group, the South American country is suffering something that it had not experienced before: “Uruguay is in its first wave, we did not have a first wave yet because of the set of measures that, from the health, scientific and social perspective, were developed with high success rates during the first seven months of the pandemic,” he said.

For his part, mathematician Fernando Paganini, also a member of the group, said that in November Uruguay entered the “exponential growth” phase and that about 30% of new cases “have no known link”.

He also explained that, according to the latest projections, if Uruguay maintains the trend “that seems to be steady,” it could reach the end of the year with nearly 1,200 cases per day and some 120 intensive care beds occupied.

On December 1st, Lacalle Pou had already announced a number of measures to contain the virus, including the closure of bars and restaurants at midnight, increased control of public transports and the suspension of indoor sports.

On Wednesday, December 16th, the country added 476 new Covid-19 cases, reaching 3,649 infections. Furthermore, with four deaths reported in the past 24 hours, Uruguay has passed the 100-death mark: there are now 102 fatalities.

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