President Maduro Orders Sanitary Restrictions in Caracas, Miranda, La Guaira and Bolívar States
Sunday night, March 14, President Nicolás Maduro informed Venezuelans that in the Capital District and in the states of Miranda, La Guaira and Bolívar, biosafety restrictions will be activated as of Monday to counteract the spread of COVID-19 and its Brazilian variant, named P.1.
During the next seven days, in these four states—three of them located in the center-north of the country (Capital District, La Guaira and Miranda) and the other in the southeast bordering Brazil (Bolívar)—there will be limited partial flexibility, within the framework of the 7+7 reopening scheme.
Governor Hector Rodríguez explained what restriction measures imply for the state of Miranda:
• Vehicle control between municipalities.
• Restriction of public transport.
• The Los Teques Metro system and the Los Valles del Tuy Railway will be available only for duly authorized people.
• Only businesses in prioritized sectors will open: security, food and health/pharmacies.
For his part, the Minister of Transportation, Hipólito Abreu, informed that from March 15 to 21, interurban commuting to and from Caracas-Miranda-La Guaira and Bolívar state has been suspended.
Para instrumentar el cerco sanitario contra las variantes brasileñas del Covid-19 ordenado por el Pdte @NicolasMaduro, se informa que del 15 al 21 de marzo se suspende las rutas interurbanas desde y hacia:
1. Caracas-Miranda-LaGuaira
2. Bolívar
Nota: Táchira continúa restringido.— Antonio Abreu (@HAbreuMRT) March 14, 2021
Venezuela has registered an increase in coronavirus cases, reporting an average of 21 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in the second week of March. Because the increase coincides with the detection of the Brazilian strain, they are probably linked, said President Maduro.
Maduro explained that the states with the highest number of active cases are currently: Caracas (2,149), Miranda (839), Zulia (748), La Guaira (669), Carabobo (308) and Bolívar (251).
Sanitary hotels will be operational again to guarantee the medical attention and supervision of all the people who test positive, with or without symptoms, and to avoid positive cases being treated at home.
In the last 24 hours there were 574 new COVID-19 infections detected in Venezuela, of which 550 were community cases, and 24 imported. Of these, 56 cases of the P.1 variant were reported, mainly in Caracas, Miranda and Bolívar state.
Featured image: The Government of Venezuela implements measures to stop the spread of COVID-19. File photo by AP.
Translation: Orinoco Tribune
OT/JRE/SL
