The borders remain officially closed, Chileans and residents who have completed their scheduled vaccines will be able to leave and enter the trans-Andean country.
22 July 2021
Chile eases border restrictions for nationals and resident foreigners
The Chilean health authorities indicated this Thursday that restrictions on the country’s borders, which have been closed since April, will be eased for nationals and residents who are vaccinated.
The measure will take effect from Monday, July 26 and, although the borders are still officially closed, Chileans and residents who have completed their scheduled vaccines will be able to leave and enter the southern country, not foreigners, who will only be able to cross the border in exceptional cases and with consular permits.
Those who leave the country must prove a negative PCR test (swabbing) 72 hours prior to their flight and their vaccination card, and when they return they must arrive with a negative PCR test and do a 10-day home quarantine.
The change comes after a “gigantic decrease” in the cases of daily infections, according to the Health Minister, Enrique Paris, who reiterated that although the statistics are favorable, it is necessary to maintain the sanitary recommendations.
“There is evidence of a decrease in new confirmed cases, however, we have repeatedly said that we do not consider ourselves triumphalist or that we have defeated the virus, quite the opposite,” said Paris.
This Thursday the country registered 1,861 new cases and 181 deaths, accumulating 1.6 million cases and almost 35,000 deaths since the first case was registered on 3 March 2020.
Paris confirmed a decrease in new infections of -32% in the last seven days at the national level, while the successful vaccination process already reaches 11.8 million immunized people (77.91% of the 15.2 million that comprise the target population) out of a total of 19 million inhabitants in the country.
