. Thus, bilateral agreements were adopted with the health authorities of neighboring countries.
"By mutual agreement, the borders will be kept closed. We have reached bilateral agreements. Even before the
new COVID-19 variant appeared in Chile, we were in talks with the health authorities of that neighboring country to reopen the border," Dr. Mazzetti expressed.
"However, as soon as the new variant emerged, we all said that it was not possible, and so the border remained closed," she added.
The high-ranking official commented that —before making this decision— there was an entire organization working on the border area, both on the Peruvian region of Tacna and on the Chilean region of Arica to reopen the frontier.
Difficulties in border control
Regarding the illegal entry of people through certain points of the land borders, the Health minister said it is impossible to guard so many kilometers of such frontiers with five neighboring countries.
"A tremendous effort is made, for example, on the northern border. One part can be monitored very well, but there is another one that cannot necessarily be monitored with such capacity by both countries (Peru and Ecuador)," she acknowledged.
The Cabinet member also argued that there is always a human component to epidemics and pandemics, so social behavior is the main problem.
"Any measure is useless if, clandestinely by taking advantage of the geographical difficulties, people leave their countries without taking the proper precautions. That is something that no country can control," she emphasized.