MEXICO CITY (Agencies) – A few days ago, it was announced that people who decide to travel to the United States would be required to take a COVID-19 test with a negative result within 72 hours before boarding their flight. According to an announcement by Grupo Aeroportuario del Pacífico (GAP), 12 airports in Mexico will install temporary laboratories where passengers will be able to take the test.
This measure will begin to be implemented as of Monday, January 25 at the airports of Guadalajara, Tijuana, Los Cabos, Puerto Vallarta, Guanajuato, Hermosillo, Mexicali, Morelia, La Paz, Aguascalientes, Los Mochis and Manzanillo. Merida’s airport might join this group of airports soon. The price of the antigen test will be 450 pesos, while the PCR will be 1,450 pesos, which will be applicable only to passengers on international flights.
Because of this disposition, GAP recommended its customers to add an hour to their travel itinerary to avoid problems regarding documentation and requirements to fly, as well as long lines that may be generated to take the test.
They also pointed out that people who have tested positive for the disease in the previous 90 days will be able to travel only if they have met the isolation criteria. They must also show proof that they no longer have the disease and a letter from a medical specialist allowing them to travel.
In addition to the requirement to present a negative test to enter the United States, the new U.S. government also decreed that all passengers arriving at its airports must undergo a period of quarantine, something that had only been a recommendation of the previous administration.
“Testing does not eliminate all risks, but when combined with a period of isolation and daily precautions such as wearing masks and maintaining social distance, it can make travel safer,” said Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
This order will go into effect on January 26 and include U.S. citizens seeking to return home. The CDC’s recommendation for all persons is to be tested within three to five days of arrival and isolate themselves for one week.
The Ministries of the Interior, Foreign Affairs, Health, Tourism, and the National Institute of Migration, held a dialogue with the U.S. authorities to promote health safety in domestic and international travel due to the COVID-19 emergency.
Among the provisions reached was the extension of the closure of the northern border until February 21, based on an analysis of the development of the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
It should be recalled that such restrictions have not prevented the commercial transit of food, fuel, medical care equipment, and medicines and will remain in place under the same terms since their implementation on March 21, 2020.
Likewise, on the afternoon of Friday, January 22, Presidents Andrés Manuel López Obrador and Joe Biden engaged in a phone call. They discussed issues of importance to both nations, such as migration.
“We talked with President Biden. He was kind and respectful. We discussed issues related to migration, COVID-19, and cooperation for development and welfare. Everything indicates that relations will be good for the good of our peoples and nations,” López Obrador wrote on his Twitter account.
To begin as soon as possible with the actions between countries, the United States took a big step by giving its approval for Esteban Moctezuma Barragán to serve as Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Mexico in that country.
The Yucatan Times
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