Chile Announces Closing of Borders to Foreign Nationals Beginning Wednesday, March 18

President Declares Stage 4 of the COVID-19 contingency plan for the Country

 

Santiago, Chile (Tuesday, March 17, 2020) – President Sebastián Piñera announced Chile has entered stage 4 of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) contingency plan; the most complex given that the spread of the disease among the population is produced by viral circulation. As a result, as of Wednesday, March 18, all of Chile’s land, sea and air borders will close, and entry of foreign people will be denied until further notice.

 

The President has also issued a denial of cruise ships to Chilean ports through September 30^th, 2020 in an effort to mitigate the spread of the virus to the country. Tourism authorities support the decrees for both domestic and international travel and reinforce practicing responsible tourism with the adoption of preventative measures that aim to protect the health of the population and the world.

 

Chilean nationals and permanent residents arriving from high-risk countries will be able to enter the country by submitting to an obligatory quarantine of 14 days set forth by Customs and Health authorities in Chile. The Government decree that stipulates that travelers from Iran, China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Germany, France, Spain and Italy must be isolated for 14 days still applies and that travelers who have not entered the territory from these countries are exempt from this measure. Health Authorities indicate that isolation can be carried out in private homes or tourist accommodations if absolutley necessary and will need to be reported accordingly.

 

To prevent the spread of this virus, declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO), the Government also determined all unnecessary public events to be canceled; necessary private events should be held to groups under 50 attendees. The Governmentof Chile recommends avoiding any unnecessary travel and recommends its citizens to stay home.

 

All the updated information regarding the action plan established by the Government of Chile and Chile Tourism to face this pandemic can be found on the following website: https://chile.travel/en/coronavirus.