Colombia goes into lockdown, Chile extends colleges closures
26 March, 2020
Countries across Latin America tightened procedures on Wednesday to prevent the pass on of the deadly novel coronavirus, with more lockdowns, border closings and university closures in addition to increased aid to the region's poorest.
As cases of COVID-19 cases continue steadily to rise -- a lot more than 7,400 and 123 deaths until now -- Bolivia and Colombia became the most recent countries to impose a complete lockdown, while Chile prolonged its schools closures until the end of April.
Here are the latest measures used several Latin American countries:
Bolivia
Bolivia is closing its borders and ordering a good strict lockdown until April 15 starting at nighttime Wednesday, President Jeanine Anez said, due to she declared circumstances of "sanitary emergency."
The measures are created to add teeth to a lockdown that was ordered on Sunday but has largely been ignored.
Extra police and soldiers have been deployed to enforce the steps, Anez said.
There are narrow exceptions to who can cross the border and times at which people could be outside, Anez said.
Colombia
A three-week total lockdown began just after midnight Tuesday.
"Stay at home, avoid the virus from spreading and preserve lives," said President Ivan Duque.
Colombia, people 48 million, will end up being locked up until April 12.
Almost 500 cases of the deadly virus have been reported in Colombia.
The capital city Bogota had recently been on lockdown on orders from the mayor since Sunday.
Chile
Some 1.3 million residents of Santiago -- incorporating those of the Chilean capital's most affluent neighborhoods -- will be on lockdown for least weekly starting at 0100 GMT Thursday, officials said.
This adopted orders extending school closures until May. Classes had been suspended on March 16, just under two weeks following the first novel coronavirus case was recorded.
The lockdown areas "concentrate the best number of instances, and the activity of people can generate considerably more contagions," said Overall health Minister Jaime Manalich.
"This means that people must stay in the home," he emphasized.
Chile has a lot more than 1,100 recorded attacks and three deaths from the virus.
Panama
Panama will allow the cruise liner Zaandam -- operated by the Holland America cruise collection -- to sail through it is canal despite the fact that there are 42 persons aboard the ship with flu-like symptoms, Wellbeing Minister Rosario Turner said Wednesday.
The ship, with 1,800 passengers aboard, set sail on March 7 from Buenos Aires, with the vacation spot of San Antonio, on the central coast of Chile.
However the ship had to improve its ideas when ports on the way halted it from docking as a result of coronavirus crisis.
Every ship that reaches Panama must present a list of sick people, "and if we suspect there are persons with respiratory problems, they cannot land," Turner said.
The Zaandam is defined to cross the 80-kilometer inter-oceanic canal on Thursday and hook up on the Caribbean side with another cruise ship, the Rotterdam, which is to provide materials and kits to check for the COVID-19 virus.
Its purpose is to reach Fort Lauderdale, Florida on March 30, the cruise line said.
There were 558 cases of the brand new coronavirus in Panama, including eight deaths.
Honduras
Soldiers have begun distributing meals to locked-down citizens of the poorest neighborhoods of the capital Tegucigalpa.
President Juan Orlando Hernandez said 800,000 poor families -- 3.2 million persons -- would receive food to make sure they stayed indoors.
Honduras has recorded 36 COVID-19 cases so far.
Brazil
President Jair Bolsonaro offers warned of practical "chaos" and the "looting" of supermarkets if condition shutdowns ordered by the governors of Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro aren't ended.
Bolsonaro, who actually has repeatedly scoffed at the severe nature of the deadly pandemic, had previously criticized the closing of schools and businesses found in Sao Paulo and Rio states, two of the country's most populous claims.
"Companies aren't making anything. They can not pay their workers. And if the overall economy collapses, there will not be any way to pay general public officials. We happen to be facing chaos," Bolsonaro said.
If that happened and supermarkets were looted, he stated, "we'll have chaos in addition to the virus."
Mexico
BBVA, the greatest bank found in Mexico, has predicted that the coronavirus outbreak may cause the economy to deal by 4.5 percent in 2020.
The Spanish bank said Mexican exports would be hard hit by a reduction in demand from america, its largest trading partner, if virus containment measures continue.
BBVA as well said remittances sent to family in Mexico could possibly be hit by soaring unemployment in america.
Different banks, such as for example Barclays and Credit Suisse, predicted the economy would shrink by 2-4 percent.
Uruguay
Dueling demos: labor activists and their supporters banged of pans and pots from balconies late Wednesday demanding measures that could protect workers through the coronavirus crisis -- and then be met by authorities supporters singing the countrywide anthem at the actual same time.
There are 217 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Uruguay.
Source: www.thejakartapost.com