Location: Guatemala
Event: On March 21, President Giammattei announced that, effective Sunday, March 22, a nationwide curfew will take effect. The curfew is from 4:00 p.m. to 4:00 a.m. and is scheduled to be in effect until March 29. Everyone in Guatemala, including foreigners, is expected to remain in their homes during curfew hours. The only exceptions are for police, private security, medical professionals and ambulances, food delivery drivers, and certain other essential personnel. While food delivery service will continue during the curfew, grocery stores are expected to close before the curfew takes effect. The Guatemalan police and security forces will enforce the curfew.
President Giammattei also said that the Ministry of Health has the authority to move any individuals, including foreigners, into quarantine or isolation if deemed medically necessary.
Foreigners will continue to be allowed to exit Guatemala via land border crossings into Mexico and Belize, as long as those countries permit their entry.
The State Department continues to work to help American Citizens in Guatemala seeking to return to the United States. All American Citizens should take the following steps to ensure that they get the latest updates from the embassy, including any information about State Department-chartered flights to the United States:
• Visit the following web page for information on how to register to participate in charter flights back to the United States: https://gt.usembassy.gov/information-for-u-s-citizens-seeking-to-depart-guatemala/
• Monitor the Embassy’s website (https://gt.usembassy.gov/) and Twitter account (@usembassyguate) for the most up-to-date information
• Enroll at www.STEP.state.gov to receive the latest updates from the Embassy, including any charter flight announcements.
• Follow the advice of the CDC and local health authorities, which you can find at https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html.
• Continue to follow up with airlines about the availability of commercial flights, which could re-start operations before other travel arrangements such as charter flights are available.
• Monitor the Department of State’s COVID-19 website at https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/ea/covid-19- information.html