Argentina exempts agricultural air work from COVID-19 quarantine

By Leonardo Gottems, Reporter for AgroPages

The National Civil Aviation Administration (ANAC) of Argentina published a resolution exempting agricultural air work from the mandatory quarantine due to the novel coronavirus, COVID-19, pandemic.

The government's decision was made to guarantee food production and healthcare during these difficult times, ANAC noted.

"Companies that carry out aerial work activities may only carry out their activities if the types of items they specifically request for authorization strictly comply with one of the provided requirements," stressed the official resolution.

All air work companies must comply with the requirements for operation. Relevant companies, including the Argentine Federation of Agro-Air Chambers (FeArCA), and the aeroapplication community thanked ANAC and the keenness of its head, Paola Viviana Tamburelli, to meet to the vital needs for health and food production.

The Argentine Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries published Resolution 42/2020 defining the steps that will enable workers in activities related to agricultural production, distribution, marketing and fishing to work during the quarantine period of the novel coronavirus.

The ministry performs data crossing with records of producers, distributors and transformation companies involved in producing and manufacturing food supplies to issue licenses. It is, therefore, developing an electronic document that contains the status of an agricultural or fishing producer.

Argentine President Alberto Fernández announced the extension of the quarantine until 26th April. There will be no changes in big cities, but it will be relaxed in rural regions. "There are towns that will have community quarantines, which will limit the lives of of their inhabitants,” he said.

“We are facing a pandemic of an unusual scale. We know neither the remedy nor the vaccine. The only remedy that makes sense now is to take shelter in our houses. The objective is to slow down the spread of the contagion, guaranteeing that the health system can respond to those who can be cared for," Fernández added.

According to official data, Argentina has recorded 1,975 infected cases and 82 deaths until 10th April. According to Fernández, without the quarantine there would be 45,000 cases.