Coronavirus & Uruguay

Covid travel restrictions & what you need to know to stay safe

The latest on the pandemic in Uruguay

Covid cases back to 2020 levels

Vaccines appear to be halting the pandemic in Uruguay

See the Coronavirus UY app in action (video)

IMPORTANT NEWS The government indicated on August 2 2021 that next week they will make an announcement regarding a gradual opening of the borders. The opening will start in September with vaccinated property owners who are non-resident. It appears other vaccinated travellers will be likely to enter “by the end of Spring” (ie November in the summer hemisphere). Sign up to the Guru’Guay newsletter & be first to find out when the borders open.

Can I get into Uruguay right now?

Covid travel restrictions have been in place in Uruguay since March 2020 when the borders were closed to everyone other than citizens and residents.

Who is allowed into Uruguay at this time includes exceptions
Getting a travel permit to study Spanish
What airlines are flying to Uruguay updated May 27 2021

Do I need to quarantine?

Given the appearance of Delta in July, the government is once again expecting new arrivals to quarantine whether you are vaccinated or not.

Quarantine requirements

How is the vaccination situation in Uruguay?

Uruguay has a long history of carrying out successful health campaigns and Uruguayans are used to getting vaccinated. All Uruguayan children must be vaccinated to attend school and having your vaccinations up to date is a requirement for anyone wanting to join a sports or leisure centre here.

So though vaccine roll out started later than in many parts of the world because as a small country it took some time to import supplies, Uruguay is currently amongst the top 10. By the end of July, it appears that vaccines are controlling the pandemic in Uruguay. In part because Uruguayans are overwhelmingly eager to get vaccinated.

In line with its science-based approach to health campaigns, Uruguay announced May 13 an upcoming study to measure the effectiveness of the vaccinations. The goal is to measure the efficacy of each of the three vaccine s available in the country comparing stated clinical trial results with the reality that vaccinated Uruguayans are living.

Vaccines appear to be halting the pandemic in Uruguay (July 2021)
Are Uruguayans getting vaccinated?(July 2021)
Which vaccines are being given (July 2021)
Uruguay’s vaccine roll-out is one of the fastest in the world
Uruguay’s vaccine plan
Scheduling your shot – for residents and citizens in Uruguay

Has Uruguay had a ‘good’ pandemic?

Uruguay has never had a mandatory lockdown. Instead the new government–which had come into power on March 1 2020 just thirteen days before the first Covid 19 cases were announced in Uruguay–called on citizens to exercise ‘responsible freedom’ (‘libertad responsable’). This policy worked very well for the first nine months when Uruguay appeared as a case to be emulated. Numbers of cases began to increase significantly after a year. The reasons can be disputed—proximity and dry borders with Brazil and Argentina, pandemic ‘fatigue’, belief that once vaccination started the battle was won, are the main ones. Despite that, we have had privileged freedom of movement, city dwellers respectfully wear masks and the uptake for vaccines is strong. So I still feel as I did when I wrote in Medium.com in April 2020 that there is no place I would rather be in a pandemic than Uruguay.

Check out our archive to get an idea of what it’s been like living in Uruguay during this time.

Uruguay covid cases back to 2020 levels (July 2021)
COVID-19 cases rise in Uruguay (Mar 2021)
Why Uruguay’s borders remained closed despite being on the EU’s travel list (Jan 2021)
Coronavirus in Uruguay II: The (long-expected) first wave came after 9 months of almost no cases (Dec 2020)
Coronavirus in Uruguay I: The first 9 months of pandemic Guru’Guay’s chronicle of the pandemic handling including restrictions, education, testing, industries returning to work (I kept this page updated regularly throughout Mar-Nov 2020. It’s an interesting document to understand the approach)
Property enquiries from US and Europe booming (July 2020)
Uruguay wine industry The 2020 grape harvest went on undeterred and the 2020 vintage is one of the best in decades (Apr 2020)

Want to know what it was like in Uruguay for foreigners?

In 2020 Guru’Guay covered the stories of eight foreigners who found themselves stuck in Uruguay when the borders closed in March for El Pais, Uruguay’s oldest national newspaper. Uruguayans LOVED reading the stories—they are generally a very self-critical lot and found the appreciation for their country unexpected.