Security Alert – U.S. Embassy Chisinau, Moldova (March 22, 2020)

Security Alert – U.S. Embassy Chisinau, Moldova (March 22, 2020)

Location: Republic of Moldova

Event: The Romanian Government announced that it will close the border with Moldova to individuals effective Sunday evening, March 22, 2020. The land border with Ukraine is also closed. After tonight, U.S. citizens may have no overland options to depart Moldova until April 1, 2020 at the earliest.

The U.S. Embassy in Chisinau is arranging a charter bus – leaving at 17:00 on Sunday, March 22, 2020 from Chisinau to the Bucharest airport. Please contact us immediately by email (Chisinau-CA@state.gov) if you are a U.S. citizen interested in overland transit to Bucharest.

Please note that all individuals are responsible for making their own travel arrangements from Bucharest (e.g., to the U.S. via onward commercial air flights).

The airport in Bucharest, Romania continues to operate with limited options to return to the United States via non-Schengen routes on Tarom or Turkish Airlines through Istanbul. We do not know how much longer these options will exist. All U.S. citizens seeking to leave Moldova via commercial air from Romania should consider utilizing this route while it remains open.

The U.S. Embassy in Chisinau continues to operate but has suspended visa services. The Consular Section remains open for American Citizen Services.

The Department of State has issued a Global Level 4 Health Advisory advising U.S. citizens to not travel abroad due to the global impact of COVID-19.

Actions to Take:

Seek immediate medical care if you believe you may have COVID-19 (or similar symptoms) or were exposed to someone who may have COVID-19 in the last six weeks. In Moldova, you should contact your primary care physician or call 112.
Consult the CDC website for the most up-to-date information.
For the most recent information on what you can do to reduce your risk of contracting COVID-19 please see the CDC’s latest recommendations.
Visit the COVID-19 crisis page on travel.state.gov for the latest information.
Visit our Embassy webpage on COVID-19 for information on conditions in Moldova.
Visit the Department of Homeland Security’s website on the latest travel restrictions to the United States.