The government will tighten controls at Argentina's land borders to prevent the entry of foreigners who have previously been in areas of high circulation of the coronavirus, Health Minister Gines González García announced Saturday.
The government will publish a resolution which will "put more brakes on the entry of foreigners who have spent the last 14 days in areas with viral circulation" of the Covid-19 outbreak, the minister explained at a press conference.
He specified that there will be "greater controls on the entry of foreigners in points such as Mendoza or at Iguazú, where there is a high circulation of tourists from areas with Covid-19 circulation."
Mendoza, to the west of the country, borders Chile, while Iguazú, in the northeast province of Misiones, borders Brazil and Paraguay.
"It is a strong and very important measure to block all possibilities for the virus to circulate [in Argentina]," González García added.
After moving first to control incomings at international airports, particularly Ezeiza International Airport, Argentina's international terminal, the government will now move to control the country's land borders with its neighbours.
González García said that Argentina "is still in the containment phase."
"That does not mean that the virus is contained, but that until now, we have only faced cases that came from other countries or had close contacts with them."
In Argentina 34 have been infected by the coronavirus, of whom two died, according to an update on Friday.
The minister, speaking later during a visit to the Malbrán Institute in the capital, also confirmed that the government would look to decentralise testing to confirm if individuals have Covid-19, saying it would soon expand those capabilities "imminently" to a further four institutions. The objective, González García said, is to get to 35 centres across the country.
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