Covid-19 Skyrocketing in Venezuela: 351 New Cases Reported on Saturday – Quarantine Extended in 11 States
This Saturday, President Maduro’s administration reported that in the last 24 hours 249 new Covid-19 cases were registered due to community transmission, 101 imported cases, 1 case due to contact with a traveler, and 1 deceased, bringing the day’s total to 351 cases.
The executive vice president, Delcy RodrĂguez presented the topics addressed at the meeting of the Covid-19 Presidential Commission, and the Minister of Health, Carlos Alvarado detailed the cases by venue, for a total of 5,130 cases across the country since the first case was reported in March.
Alvarado stressed that the new cases were detected in 14 states: 143 in Zulia, 65 in Miranda, 35 in BolĂvar; 34 in the Capital District; 25 in Sucre, 15 in Monagas; 11 in Merida; 7 in Trujillo, 4 in Nueva Esparta, 3 in Apure; 3 in Aragua; 3 in Yaracuy; 2 in Anzoátegui and 1 in Lara.
Of the Zulia cases, he said, that there are 142 cases of community transmission, 120 of these are linked to the central district of Maracaibo and the Flea Market, and 22 are in municipalities outside Maracaibo, but “they have to do with the traffic and business with that market: Cabimas, Lagunillas, Machiques and Santa Rita,” he pointed out.
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For his part, RodrĂguez, who said that more than 300 people have recovered in the last few hours, said that as of today 1,219,651 tests have been applied in the country, which represents 40,655 tests per million of population.
With regard to the deceased, the vice president explained that it was a 73-year-old doctor from the state of MĂ©rida, who was in the front row fighting against the virus, for which she expressed her appreciation and admiration for this doctor who died in combat, and likewise to all health personnel who are battling the coronavirus. With this death, the number of deceased due to Covid-19 in Venezuela rises to 42.
Of the 101 imported cases, RodrĂguez specified that 82 come from Colombia and 16 from Brazil, 3 from Ecuador, which are located in MĂ©rida, BolĂvar, Monagas, Sucre, Trujillo, Nueva Esparta, Apure, Aragua, Anzoátegui and Zulia.
She highlighted that the case of infection by international contact is a 28-year-old man from the PemĂłn ethnic group, in the Gran Sabana municipality (BolĂvar), where a group of indigenous people have been used to cross clandestine trails from Brazil.
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RodrĂguez said that an outbreak of the virus is occurring as a result of the arrival of Venezuelan migrants, who come from countries where the necessary sanitary measures have not been taken, such as Brazil and Colombia.
That is why – she said – President Nicolás Maduro asked governors and mayors to focus their management agenda on preserving the health of the people to guarantee protection and cut the chain of contagion.
She also reported that by presidential order, special temporary strategic zones will be created in the states of Táchira and Zulia to restrict the illegal entry of migrants who enter through the illegal trails (trochas).
Reopening vs Extending Quarantine
Vice President RodrĂguez, confirmed also that the 7 + 7 reopening plan that restarts next Monday, June 29 will have a variation in its execution, given that the Coronavirus has had an important growth in the last days in the national territory.
The official commented that to stop the pandemic, the radical quarantine will be maintained in the Capital District, Miranda, Aragua, Carabobo, Zulia, Táchira, Apure, BolĂvar, Trujillo, MĂ©rida and Sucre.
The special measures of the phase of the 7 days reopening will not affect the rest of the states that have shown a better performance in the number of cases.
OT/JRE/EF
