The comedy of mistakes that the Government put together with the plan “Fundéate at your home”, the permits to celebrate as a family and the number of guests motivated that on Monday the Government would go out for the fifth day in a row to make a further clarification of the package of measures announced on Wednesday and that it has drawn acidic criticism both from the opposition but also from its very ranks.
The plan “has been confusing,” UDI President Jacqueline van Rysselberghe admitted to La Tercera, while another official MP who came out of step was MR. RN Andrés Celis, who called for a special session of the Chamber of Deputies’ Health Committee to address confusing information. “Let us be consistent with that same plan, and let us not continue to invent things,” said medical college general secretary José Migue Bernucci.
After a follow-up of corrections, in La Moneda there was this afternoon an emergency meeting between Health Minister Enrique Paris, spokesman Jaime Bellolio and undersecretary of crime prevention, Katherine Martorell.
In this way, the Government reported that the population in quarantined communes will not be able to access the permits at Fiestas Patrias, and they will not be able to move. In communes in transition they will be able to apply for permission only one of the three days of Fiestas Patrias, it will last 6 hours and will not serve to move to quarantined communes.
In the case of communes in phases 3, 4 and 5 no permits are needed, except to enter for only once a commune in transition.
As for the number of participants in the family reunion, in enclosed spaces a maximum of 5 additional people will be allowed to those living in the home, Minister Bellolio said. In addition, a maximum of 10 are considered in parks, squares and open places.
In the quotation, the spokesman insisted that it is a “very clear plan” and that it was worked “as a team” by the Government, avoiding taking responsibility or endosing them to the Minsal. In his turn, Minister Paris indicated that “this conference is important to clarify the things we did not know how to clarify.”
As reported by La Tercera, in La Moneda they assure that the idea of giving permits at Fiestas Patrias arose from an informal proposal of the Advisory Board of the Minsal. But in this instance they argue that the subject was not consensual and was not even recorded.
The government’s entanglement
The plan was announced last week and envisaged – in principle – meetings in enclosed spaces but with a maximum of five people, and meetings will also be allowed in open venues with a maximum of 10 people, for which a special permit would be enabled at the Virtual Police Station. He immediately drew criticism from experts and regional authorities such as Biobío’s mayor Sergio Giacaman, who engaged in a tough controversy with the central government.
The Government had to back down and announced that those living in quarantined communes will not be able to receive visitors. But what introduced more uncertainty about it was the sayings of the Minister of Health, Enrique Paris, last night on TVN. At the time, he said only five people can be in a house. That is, if 5 people live in a house, it will not be able to receive anyone else, which does not conform to the initial information provided by the portfolio.
To make things more tangled up, this morning Bellolio said on Radio Pauta that “there are five additional people who live in the home, as long as the commune has been quarantined.” In the same line, Undersecretary of Public Health Paula Daza also rectified Paris and told MegaNews that “if people are five members in the family, they could invite five people to their home, but always assessing the risk of the size of their home.”
Expert darts and opposition
In the opposition they demanded clarity from the Government with the information. The president of the Socialist Party, Avaro Elizalde lashed out at the Minsal, noting that “the Government has generated enormous confusion by giving conflicting instructions on how to deal with the pandemic within the framework of the Patriotic Festivals”.
Elizalde said that “we need an empowered health authority that is clear about the measures taken and, above all, that is very pedagogical in order to raise them with citizens. That is quite the opposite of what has happened, there have been contradictions between Minister Paris and Minister Bellolio.”
The PS helmsman addedgoodbye that “we expect the government to think about it because what is in too important games and therefore put an end to these contradictions that only create confusion in people.”
Also in opposition, Ricardo Celis, chairman of the Lower House Health Commission, commented that “what we are asking the minister is to make the message clear, to be categorical. You can’t say one thing in the middle of the day and one thing in the afternoon. It has to be the same message: stay in the house, maximum 5 people, no more mobility. Mobility increases the number of cases, so when people go from place to place, contagions increase.”
