The National Park Service together with other relevant institutions in the Galapagos Islands have announced the following preventive measures at all main entry points to the Galapagos Islands in order to protect the fragile ecosystem from a possible infection with Swine flu.

- All employees at the airports and ports must use disposable gloves and masks

- Foot disinfection at the arrival gate of the airports in Baltra and San Cristobal and at the docks while embarking and disembarking- All arrival halls will be fumigated with a wide spectrum disinfectant prior to the arrival of each aircraft

- Any waste material must remain on board the aircraft and cannot be unloaded in the islands

- All passengers arriving to the islands must disinfect their hands with alcohol prior to leaving the arrival halls

Furthermore, the Ministry of Tourism is working closely with the private sector of tourism in order to centralize all the important and correct information regarding the measures that tour operators should take into consideration for their daily operations. Currently they are in the process of elaborating a leaflet that will be distributed to all service providers and arriving tourists.

International arrivals to Ecuador are currently limited to the main airports in Quito and Guayaquil; secondary airports are temporarily closed as a preventive measure. At this moment Ecuador & the Galapagos Islands have not reported any infected persons.

We will keep you updated about future developments.