El Salvador Removes All Travel Restrictions and Entry Requirements

El Salvador has removed all entry requirements relating to the COVID-19 pandemic. As of November 17th, travelers to to the Central American country will no longer have to provide evidence of vaccination, or negative COVID tests.

It joins a small number of countries across the world that have eliminated all health restrictions for visitors.

The announcement was made on Wednesday by The General Directorate of Migration of El Salvador who acted on the recommendation of the Ministry of Health.

According to the Ministry, “the management of the pandemic allows El Salvador to make the sanitary measures more flexible to enter the country”.

Despite the relaxation of the rules, the government is still recommending individuals to take responsibility themselves, by getting vaccinated, wearing masks, or testing when returning to and leaving from the country.

The government had already informed the airline industry as well as other tourist and business related entities that will be affected by the new rules. Again, individual entities may use their own restrictions, but they will not be enforced by the government.

Previously, Mexico, Costa Rica, Colombia, and the Dominican Republic were the only countries across the world with no entry restrictions centered on vaccinations, testing, or quarantines. All the nations mentioned still have no entry restrictions, but it should be noted that Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic, and Colombia have all rolled out varying forms of vaccine passports meaning the experience in the country may be limited.

Colombia’s vaccine passport is set to be required for visitors and citizens alike to be able to enter public spaces. Spaces include bars, restaurants, churches, public and private events, and cinemas. The requirement went into place on the 16th of November.

Costa Rica’s decision is similar, and was brought in back in October. It also limits the entry of non-vaccinated travelers in public spaces like bars and restaurants, severely hampering the amount of activities a visitor to the country could engage in.

The Dominican Republic, on the other hand, does have a vaccine passport but does not enforce the rule in resorts. By this standard, a visitor would not be affected in their hotels and included amenities. But if they stray outside of the vicinity, they would be subject to the same rules and regulations are the rest of the country.

El Salvador have seen a reduction in COVID cases over the past few months, which is being attributed to growing vaccination rates. The country of 6.7 million people hopes to fully vaccinate almost 6 million people, with 3.9 million already completed their full dosage.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the country has had almost 120 thousand registered cases, and over 3 thousand deaths. A 30 day quarantine was enforced in March 2020, before the borders were fully closed. The country reopened again in September 2020, with the typical COVID test requirements, before allowing proof of vaccination.

Pre-covid the country received almost 2 million visitors a year. With borders restrictions loosening across the world, and the vaccination requirement now gone in El Salvador, the tourism industry in the country will be hoping for a strong resurgence

Source: https://bit.ly/3FvTjhl