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The Ministry of Health issued, on the night of Wednesday 4 November, the resolution 1972 of 2020, which updates the biosecurity protocol for the management and control of the risk of coronavirus in air transport and, coincidentally, eliminates the obligation of a negative PCR test 96 hours in advance for passengers entering the country.
This had been one of the requirements set in the midst of the reactivation of international flights, which took place on 19 September.
However, the protocol update cancels the request for that document and leaves it as the only requirement for boarding the flight you have no fever or respiratory symptoms associated with covid-19 and fill out the forms organized in the Check-Mig application.
“For their part, airlines must inform their passengers that when they arrive in Colombia they will be monitored by your insurer, health secretariats or through the National Tracking Contact Center (Ccnr). ISThese subjects, as well as airport operators, undertake to remind their travelers that the use of a mask is mandatory for all those over two years of age during the entire flight ”, indicated the Ministry.
(Read also: Warning for the coronavirus strain that animals and humans would share).
The announcement caused a stir. The mayor of Bogota, Claudia López, reacted by saying: “When the airport was reopened, the Ministry of Health undertook to monitor and epidemiological siege of passengers. He never delivered! It now also eliminates the requirement of PCR, which Colombians require when traveling. What part of “we must take care of ourselves” have we not understood? “.
Bogotá Secretary of Health, Alejandro Gómez, told Caracol Radio: “We believe that the assistance measures should remain. We are surprised that this measure has been lifted. We think that the gold standard is PCR. Removing it is unwise in this. moment. . All the mechanisms that we adopt to prevent an increase in cases must be adopted “.
In the 1972 resolution the portfolio explains the reasons for the decision. First, it states that the World Health Organization (WHO) in the document “Resumption of non-essential international travel in the context of the pandemic: guidance on the use of tests” ensures that the request for these results “It is not efficient as a control measure in countries with community transmission” and therefore does not recommend this pre-shipment requirement.
According to Migración Colombia, an average of 3,000 people enter the country by air every day.
In this document, WHO writes: “This recommendation is made in consideration of the effectiveness of the technology currently available for testing and the biological and epidemiological challenges, as well as legal, operational and resource constraints.”
The Ministry also claims that a negative result “It does not generate certainty that the traveler is not incubating the virus”.
(You may be interested: 80% of Colombians fear the pandemic will not be controlled).
“At the time of the epidemic in Colombia, it is the same coming from Madrid (Cundinamarca) as from Madrid (Spain). The key is that people who travel respect biosecurity measures, do not travel sick and if they have symptoms they isolate themselves and they report, “said Carlos Álvarez, an infectologist and national coordinator of covid-19 studies for WHO.
In any case, the Ministry states that in the absence of proof as a requirement the health status of international travelers will be monitored through the CCNR during the 14 days following arrival.
According to Migración Colombia, an average of 3,000 people enter the country by air every day. As of October, there were 97,696, including crews, of which 66 percent were Colombian citizens.
Deputy Minister of Health, Luis Alexander Moscoso, said in an interview with BLU Radio that the CCNR currently has cwith 30 workers in charge of monitoring these travelers and all confirmed and suspected cases which are produced in the country.
(See: Colombia, on its way to meeting covid death predictions this year).
Speaking of the tests, he added: “Fewer and fewer countries are asking to enter these PCR tests. The United States and much of Latin America, for example, no longer impose it as a requirement ”.
And he concluded: “We must be clear that the important thing here is not the tests but the disease and to the extent that we can follow up on confirmed and suspected cases we will be able to really mitigate the impact of covid-19”.
SANITARY UNIT
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