translated from Spanish: Ecuador passes “from isolation to estrangement,” but maintains curfew

Quito.- The Government of Ecuador ratified on Friday that the next 4th of May will move “from isolation to social estrangement”, in the strategy against COVID-19, although it will maintain restrictions such as the curfew and the possibility of re-confining the population if the pandemic worsens. This was pointed out today by the President of the Republic, Lenín Moreno, in a radio and television message, in which he confirmed that the change of emergency phase is applied on the basis of official statistics, which warn of a decrease in the level of contagion and a decrease in the saturation of health care services.

The representative stressed that his country needed “a balance between health measures and an orderly economic revival”, and that this phase change has therefore been organized. According to the health authorities in Ecuador, the country has recorded – since the first case of coronavirus was detected, on 29 February – 22,219 positive cases for COVID-19 and 576 deaths, in addition to 1,060 “probable deaths” with the disease, but whose bodies were not subjected to forensic studies. To get the latest news about coronavirus, sign up by clicking on this space and we’ll send you the information instantly. The Ecuadorian president said that the state of health emergency “is not over” and that the move to a social estrangement tactic is just a phase shift in the face of new conditions. He added that the new changes that can be applied depend, in addition to the behavior of the virus, on the responsibility with which each citizen assumes the measures that are applied during the stage of social estrangement. He warned that if there were a risk of saturation in health care services in hospitals, in the event of an increase in contagion, measures, to precautionary the lives” of the inhabitants could be re-tightened. He therefore said that fines and penalties for persons who fail to comply with regulations issued by the authorities, which could even reach judicial scopes, will be tightened. In addition, he asked companies and institutions to provide facilities so that people who can do so continue with the “telework” from their homes. Moreno said that in the coming days companies, industries and institutions will be able to organize plans for return to work, based on the measures proposed by the Emergency Operations Committee (COE), which is responsible for directing actions around the fight against the pandemic. He encouraged those plans to encourage a reduction in human mobility as well as the use of public transport.” Even churches are preparing their protocols for our lives to return to normal” in a “gradual, safe, disciplined and coordinated” way,” he added. The representative said that new business activities would be authorized, provided they are transactions carried out by telephone and with home delivery, to avoid personal contact. Also the services of prepared food delivery, pharmacy and provision of food and vituallas at home. Moreno stressed that students from schools and colleges, as well as those over 60 years of age, people with disabilities, those with chronic diseases and other conditions of high vulnerability to coronavirus, will continue in the isolation phase. Gyms, restaurants, theatres and cinemas and other spaces of mass concentration will remain closed, and restrictions on domestic and international flights and road transport will remain,” the ruler added. This is arguably the most critical moment in our history, which demands national unity and co-responsibility,” the ruler aposted. 

Original source in Spanish