QUITO — International travellers arriving in Ecuador by air are no longer required to quarantine so long as they present a negative COVID-19 PCR test prior to arrival.

Announced by the National Emergency Operations Committee (COE), the new rule – which went into effect on Aug. 15 – states that PCR tests must be performed within 10 days prior to the trip. Quick tests are not valid.

Passengers who do not present a negative PCR test may take a test at their own cost, using the services of a laboratory accredited by the Agency for the Assurance of Quality of Health Services (ACESS). Self-isolation is mandatory while they wait for the test results. If negative they can leave the isolation; if positive they must self-isolate for a total of 14 days, at their own expense, in hotels or private accommodation.

For those who do not present a negative test upon arrival and refuse to take a COVID-19 test, they must carry out mandatory self-isolation for 14 days, at their own expense, in hotels or private accommodation.

All passengers must also fill out and sign the Traveler’s Health Declaration and deliver it upon arrival in the country.

Ecuador first resumed commercial flights on June 1, one of the first countries in the region to do so. According to the Quito Tourism Board, the new mandate is a “great opportunity to reactivate the tourism industry in Quito and the region, to gradually increase visitation while protecting travellers, tourism staff and the local community as a whole.”

For a full list of protocols at Quito International Airport, go to https://www.aeropuertoquito.aero/en/covid-19-protocol.html.

For more reopening updates from other destinations go to https://www.travelweek.ca/news/destinations-reopening-list-2/.