Argentina takes drastic coronavirus measures
Argentina appears to have gone a step beyond other countries by including even its own citizens trapped abroad when closing its borders to new arrivals in an effort to halt the spread of Covid-19, writes David Ing
The move came shortly after a 70-year-old man, who failed to admit he had symptoms of the coronavirus, had to be treated by two doctor passengers for severe breathing problems on a flight between Spain and Argentina. South America is the only continent where all the countries have carried out either complete or partial closedowns, the international news network Aljazeera reported on 30 March, though in other countries their own citizens have been allowed to return.
The closure of borders was extended to include Argentine nationals as well as foreigners with a government ‘decree of necessity and urgency’ (DNU) that went into force on 27 March. It also covers land and sea arrivals.
In its bulletin, the government set an initial end date of 31 March but added that the date could be extended depending on the circumstances. It is estimated that some 10,000 Argentineans are still abroad who, according to the DNU, will be supported by embassy and consulate staff.
By the morning of 30 March some 820 cases of Covid-19 had been reported in Argentina, with 22 deaths.
The incident with the 70-year-old happened on 25 March when Argentina was still operating a boarding control system on inbound flights, according to Spanish state television network RTVE. These controls involved passengers having their temperatures taken and being asked if they were suffering any symptoms. The man, who was accompanied by three family members, began to have breathing problems shortly before arrival at Buenos Aires’ Ezeiza International Airport, on the flight from Madrid.
Fortunately, there were two doctors on board – one of whom was interviewed in the TV report – who fixed him up with an oxygen feed and medicated him.
After they managed to stabilise his condition, the man admitted he had felt feverish previous to flying and had taken some paracetamol tablets to counter it. According to Argentinean newspaper Clarín, the pre-flight ground check had been followed up on board with cabin crew making an announcement calling on passengers to tell them if they had any symptoms, but the man involved did not show any obvious signs of fever and failed to tell the crew about his state of health.
On landing at Ezeiza airport, he was transferred to hospital while his fellow passengers were told to follow the set practice of going into quarantine in their homes.