200 passengers tried to go to Galapagos with fake COVID-19 certificates
Controls are intensified at the Quito and Guayaquil airports. API – File
January 6, 2021, 4:57 pm
By: Televistazo
Those who incur this irregularity most often are domestic passengers.
The authorities of the Galapagos Government Council at the Guayaquil and Quito airports are on alert; from August to December 2020 they have detected that 200 passengers presented false certificates of PCR tests for COVID-19.
Angela Mendoza, district director of that entity in Guayaquil says that these people were not allowed to travel, but there are more and more citizens who commit this irregularity.
To detect false tests they have had to be in permanent contact with representatives of more than 140 laboratories qualified to carry out PCR tests for COVID-19 in the country. With them, they confirm if the passenger actually underwent a swab and if their result was negative.
Those who incur this irregularity most often are domestic passengers. Just during the first week of this new year, they have detected about 50 fraudulent COVID-19 PCR test certificates.
The concern arises because Galapagos is considered a safe destination for tourism during the pandemic, so for specialists, false tests represent a threat.
The Ministry of Public Health from February 29, 2020 to Tuesday, January 5, 2021 has reported 928 infected with COVID-19. Faced with this situation, controls are intensified at the airports of Quito and Guayaquil.
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