Coronavirus: a new stage of quarantine begins with more restrictions due to the increase in infections

The country enters this Monday in a new stage of social isolation, preventive and mandatory, which will reach almost 80 days the June 7th. The quarantine will include a reinforcement of trade and movement restrictions on public transport in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area and greater controls in emergency neighborhoods, amid an acceleration in the rate of infection in recent days.

In the decree on the extension of isolation, which was issued this Sunday at the last minute, the Government considered that despite the 60 days in force of the measure, “isolation and social distancing still continue to play a vital role to face the epidemic and to mitigate the health impact of COVID-19, “explained the Executive Branch.

“These measures have so far allowed contain the epidemic, due to the gradual appearance and early detection of cases and the implementation of control actions in cases with less time of evolution, registering a decrease in the speed of propagation in a large part of the country and having to date, the saturation of the health system has been avoided, unlike what happened in other parts of the world, “concluded the DNU.

One of the main changes of the new phase of confinement will be the expiration of the circulation permits effective from the beginning of the quarantine. The new mandatory document will enable only the excepted persons, a category that differs in the different districts and regions of the country.

The authorization that currently governs will expire next Friday, May 29. From that moment, the control personnel will begin to demand the presentation of the “Unique Enabling Certificate for Circulation – Emergency COVID-19”.

Essential workers and other people exempt from complying with the isolation will be able to manage the certificate from this Sunday through the application Look after.

For their part, those who are already registered will receive a notification with the notice that their permit expired and they must follow a series of steps to re-register and obtain the new authorization, which will have a different color depending on the activity being carried out.

These people will also have the option of obtaining the certificate through the official website of the Government. After completing the process, they must download and print the certificate with the QR code that will be required at the different control points.

The objective of this measure is to exercise stricter control on the number of people circulating in the public transport. The infectologists who advise the Executive Branch and the officials themselves admitted that train, subway or bus services are one of the potential sources of contagion more clear.

In this sense, as announced at the press conference on Saturday, the use of public transport will be exclusively reserved for those who develop essential activities, and controls at the main stations and terminals will be strengthened.

“The virus entered popular neighborhoods”President Alberto Fernández admitted on Saturday. For this reason, both the National Executive and the city of Buenos Aires announced that they will redouble their work to identify the infected and their close contacts in order to “delimit” the spread of the virus.

Quarantine in the City: fewer shops and station closings

The government of Horacio Rodríguez Larreta He released the map of the commercial areas where those businesses that are not of primary necessity will not be able to open.

As reported, the regions included represent the 80% of the crowd in the City, such as Once, Avellaneda Avenue or the Scalabrini Ortiz and Córdoba area. In this way, only local stores will be enabled.

“These are places where concentration is traditionally generated,” said the head of the Buenos Aires government. “What is restricted are the businesses that we have added in the last two weeks. Only in places where there are crowds of people,” he said.

The measure includes items such as bookstores, toy stores, flower shops, perfumeries, decoration houses, electrical materials, household appliances, musical instruments and bicycle shops. In addition to jewelers, watches, jewelry stores, furniture stores, car and motorcycle dealers, among others.

Furthermore, there will be eleven public transport stations closed from this Monday. The list includes the transshipment centers of Retiro, Plaza Constitution, Plaza Once, Chacarita, Plaza Italia – Pacific and Liniers.

Outside the AMBA, where the contagion curve is much flatter, commercial activity slowly returns to business. The capital of Cordovafor example, will allow businesses to open between 11 and 18 and by termination of DNI, while the activity of independent professions and reopening of temples is also enabled.

For its part, from this Monday Santa Cruz, San Juan and San Luis They will make compulsory quarantine more flexible after more than two months of social isolation.