Brazil drops Covid test for vaccinated travelers

RIO DE JANEIRO — Brazil loosened its pandemic restrictions for international travelers Saturday, ending its Covid-19 test requirement for vaccinated passengers and scrapping a lengthy health questionnaire.

Travelers will now only be required to present proof of vaccination on arrival in the country, according to new regulations published late Friday in the government gazette, following a recommendation to the same effect from federal health regulator Anvisa last week.

Proof of vaccination is not required for Brazilians or foreigners with residency in Brazil. Unvaccinated travelers will have to present a negative Covid-19 test dated no more than one day before departure.

But under the new regulation they will no longer have to quarantine for 14 days.

The country also dropped Anvisa's pandemic health questionnaire for travelers, which had been required since December 2020.

Brazil has been among the countries hit hardest by Covid-19, which has claimed more than 660,000 lives in the country -- second only to the United States.

But the number of infections and deaths has fallen dramatically as the South American country has ramped up immunization, with nearly 75 percent of its 212 million people now fully vaccinated.

Brazil's average daily Covid-19 death toll has fallen to around 200, from more than 3,000 at the height of the crisis a year ago.

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