This island territory of Chile has based its economy on tourism income for decades.
The Polynesian Easter Island, 3,700 km west of the Chilean coast, in the Pacific Ocean, will reopen to tourism in February after two years without visits due to the coronavirus pandemic, local authorities announced this Friday.
This island territory of Chile has for decades based its economy on the income of tourism, which comes from all over the world attracted by its unique beauty and its iconic moais – stone statues carved in human form.
In February, the flights of the Latam airline from Santiago to the island will be resumed, paralyzed since March 16, 2020, when sanitary restrictions were established at the national level a week and a half after the first case of covid-19 was registered.
Since then, Chile has added more than 1.7 million cases and 38,000 deaths from covid-19. 90.69% of the population over 6 years of age have received at least two doses of vaccines against the virus.
The only commercial area route to Easter Island departs from the capital and now visitors will have to have a valid vaccination pass and undergo a PCR test (swabbing) taken a maximum of 48 hours before boarding.
Only eight cases of covid-19 have been registered on the island in this time and there have been no new patients since September 2020. There were no hospitalizations or deaths throughout the pandemic, according to local authorities.
Despite this, the original Rapa Nui people carried out a consultation on October 25 to find out if the population wanted the island to open up to tourism or not. The non-binding result was 67% against.
73.1% of the population of Easter Island -10,000 inhabitants- is vaccinated against the coronavirus, but the Hanga Roa medical center does not have intensive therapy units, although it does have respirators. An emergency flight to the mainland takes approximately five and a half hours.
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