Pablo Sigal
02/23/2020 - 18:51
- Clarín.com
- Society
The progress of the coronavirus in the world, and particularly in Italy, for now has not caused any significant change in the region in terms of controls on passengers landing in Ezeiza from Europe.
Within that framework, Argentina falls within that same regional policy, waiting for the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) to define whether there is any modification to the "road map".
Last week Clarin had published that Argentine tourists returning from China did not receive any medical control at the Argentine airport. From the Ministry of Health explained then that "there are no direct flights from China" as one of the arguments. That is, it was impossible to control all travelers. That is why the guideline, they said, was to appeal to the "self-control" of the passengers.
This means that if a traveler arrives in the country with any of the symptoms of the coronavirus, notify immediately so that the authorities take the necessary control measures.
Now that the coronavirus epidemic has already infected 133 people in Italy , with a transmission of the virus of concern, Clarín again consulted the Government. It is because punctually 12 direct weekly flights arrive from Italy : Alitalia arrives once a day and Airlines every day, except Monday and Wednesday, as reported by Aeropuertos Argentina 2000.
"The controls are the same, what is being defined are the places where there is transmission. Depending on the official information that arrives through the international sanitary regulation we will define that," was the response of the official consulted.
The explanation they give is that for now it is not considered that what is happening is a "sustained transmission" . According to this newspaper, the country is waiting to agree with PAHO if action policies should be changed. "It does not depend on the number of deaths but on the chain of transmission," the same sources added and anticipated that "on Wednesday it is decided if the case definition is changed."
When in doubt about whether the country is acting correctly in the face of the epidemic's progress, Clarín consulted Carla Vizzotti, an infectious physician in charge of the Ministry of Access to Health of the ministry conducted by Ginés González García. The expert relativized the effectiveness of prevention measures in Ezeiza. "The more cases there are, the less impact it is to maintain controls at airports. Italy controlled 2 million people and did not contain it. That is why this is important: airport controls do not prevent the virus from entering ."
Can the controls in Ezeiza change in the near future? "Until Friday we did not receive any directive on the matter", said the sources of Airports. While the government official consulted explained that "it is a dynamic situation that is under permanent evaluation. Based on the information in the international health regulations, decisions are being made and recommendations are updated following the parameters of WHO, PAHO and in consensus with experts ".
Minister González García was concentrated and worried in recent days about the progress of dengue and measles in the country, diseases that were claimed by the first fatalities last week. From the Government, at least until this weekend, the coronavirus epidemic did not seem to be among its priorities.
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