Ecuador is on alert due to coronavirus and Easter

In Ecuador the beaches will be closed from Friday to Sunday, Following an agreement between the local authorities and the government to strengthen the restrictive measures in the face of the new wave of the new coronavirus pandemic, the Minister of Government (s.s .: Interior), Gabriel Martines, announced yesterday Monday.

“I met with the mayors of areas that have beaches and we reached an agreement: we will close the holidays” of the Catholic Easter, the minister said via the social networking site Twitter.

He added that “The purpose is to avoid concentrations in order to reduce the chances of infection and to reduce the pressure on the health system.».

The Commission for Emergency Operations (COE), which has been tasked with tackling the pandemic, had earlier said it had asked local authorities to impose new restrictive measures.

The committee can not impose measures on its own, such as a traffic ban, unless a state of emergency has been declared.

In January, the judiciary declared unconstitutional the third state of emergency declared by the government of outgoing President Lenin Moreno last month due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

Ecuador of 17.4 million inhabitants is – in proportion to its population – one of the Latin American countries hardest hit by the pandemic, with 325,124 cases of SARS-CoV-2 and 16,746 deaths so far.

The number of deaths due to COVID-19 increased by 25% in March compared to the corresponding month of 2020.

In the province of Pitsinza, where the capital Quito is located, in the province of Guayaquil and the province of Manabi, which are most affected, 367 patients are on a “waiting list” to be admitted to hospitals.

The COE has called for restrictions on gatherings and the movement of citizens, as well as on the consumption of alcohol.

The municipality of Guayaquil, the capital of the state of Guayaquil, one of the first outbreaks of the pandemic in Latin America, has already imposed new restrictive measures, in particular a curfew from Sunday to April 9.

Ecuador, where the second round of the presidential election will be held on April 11, has been closing its land and sea borders for the past year, while pre-election rallies have been suspended.

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