Flights to and from Brazil allowed to resume

Flights between Guyana and Brazil were suspended in January due to the surge in COVID-19 infections and later a new variant of the coronavirus in that country but Minister of Health Dr. Frank Anthony has confirmed that flights between the two countries are now permitted again.

The Health Minister revealed this while responding to questions posed by the News Room during his daily COVID-19 update on Thursday.

According to Dr. Anthony, the air travel arrangement Guyana has with Brazil is not different from the requirements of other international travellers. That is, individuals travelling to Guyana must be fully vaccinated and must present a negative result from either a PCR or antigen COVID-19 test.

It is important to note, however, that the gazetted COVID-19 Emergency Measures (No. 24) state that there shall be no flights to and from Brazil. These measures were made on October 29, and took effect from November 1.

“We have reopened all of our ports of entry following these [travel] guidelines and Brazil is no exception,” Dr. Anthony said, however.

This statement follows another announcement, made earlier this week, that the Guyana/ Brazil crossing at the Takutu Bridge in Lethem, Region Nine, would be operational from Mondays to Fridays.

Before that announcement, permission was granted for the opening of the crossing on Fridays to accommodate the movement of people for any purpose. That added to the pre-existing arrangement between the two countries that allowed for essential goods and supplies to be brought into Guyana only on Thursdays.

The Takutu Bridge was closed for more than one year, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and countries’ need to protect populations from the cross-country spread of the novel coronavirus. The Thursday arrangement was instituted to allow Region Nine to receive supplies from Brazil.