Coronatime update (last months of 2020 and summer)

Hi! It’s Virgi from Argentina once again. I would like to share an update of what has been going on in Buenos Aires during the eight-month period between my previous article and this one. In September, local government had already started to phase out some of the restrictions in light of a plan to reactivate economy, social life, and educational activities. Regardless of the existence of this plan, school closures continued. If interested, details of the plan can be seen at the following link: https://www.buenosaires.gob.ar/coronavirus/plan-integral

November 8 was the date when all the country transitioned to the so-called “social distancing phase”. This implied that most activities were reinstated following social distancing protocols. Bars, restaurants and caffes were open both with outdoor and indoor seating, maintaining restrictions in table occupancy and with customers and attendants wearing masks. All shops and malls were re-opened, and customer’s temperatures were taken at entrances and alcohol was provided for hand sanitation. Regarding schools, they were opened for “social reinsertion activities”. This meant group activities were performed with strict social distancing in small groups of maximum 10 students. Classes continued online until the end of the academic year which in Argentina ranges from end of February to December. Due to socioeconomic differences present in the country, in practice online schooling reach those students who were lucky enough to have access to this system, leaving many behind.

Relaxing of restrictions implied that social gatherings of up to 10 people were allowed and controls were relaxed to. December holiday season moved on swiftly and people were able to celebrate with their families.

The summer holidays followed, and tourist activities were authorized with a permit called “certificado Verano” where destination and length of stay had to be declared along with a sworn statement of no presence of Covid symptoms. PCR tests were compulsory at return from trips longer than 4 days. In practice, this meant that people were able to move around the country for vacations and about 12 million people travelled throughout the country during the summer months. Holiday destinations managed their own restrictions to maintain nightlife at a minimum. Nightclubs were closed but bars, restaurants and shops remained open until 12 am. For Argentineans social gatherings and nightlife are really important specially during vacations. An increase in the daily number of cases caused a national curfew from 1 am to 6 am to be issued on January 8.

Summer holidays, even if people weren’t able to travel, were a great opportunity for more outdoor activities which are safer and where people could relax after so many months of confinement.

Some pictures of summer at the Atlantic coast in the province of Buenos Aires, about 400 km from the city. You can see how groups of tourists maintain social distancing from one another while enjoying beach life.