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(CNN Spanish) - Starting on Wednesday, the use of chinstraps, masks or face masks will be mandatory in the capital of Argentina to enter and stay in shops and customer service offices, and when traveling on board public transport. Those who fail to do so are subject to fines of between $ 150 and $ 1,200.
"The measure is based on the verification that we have that two out of three people who have coronaviruses are asymptomatic, so that there may be people who are on the street contagiously unknowingly, that is why the use of masks is very important," said the head of government of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, at the press conference on Monday morning, where he made the announcement official.
There they explained that until Wednesday there will be awareness on the streets so that everyone begins to use these gadgets, but from zero hours on Wednesday, once the measure of the mandatory use of masks comes into force, the inspection will also become "effective ”Of compliance with the standard.
(Credit: RONALDO SCHEMIDT / AFP via Getty Images)
One of the control points will be the public transport stations, which from Monday will return to circulate with the usual frequencies of business days, after operating from March 20 with a schedule of holidays. Those without the chinstrap will not be able to board buses, trains or the subway.
But beyond the scope of this resolution, the authorities recommended the use of these devices "in any other area or place", such as, for example, public roads.
An important detail is that, in addition, the City Government prohibited the commercialization of the N95 masks to anyone who does not prove to be a professional or personal of the health service and who do not have the purpose of providing that service.
"You have to save them for the doctors," Rodríguez Larreta explained, given that the objective of this measure is not to shorten the market because there is a shortage, and to prevent the same thing that happened with alcohol gel from happening.
With this premise, for several days both the authorities and various media began to teach how to make homemade masks that serve as protection.
Although the effectiveness of the use of masks to prevent the coronavirus was discussed, the Argentine capital ended up adding to a long list of districts in the country that progressively established the obligation to circulate with protectors that cover the nose and mouth.
face masks