Complaints where the restrictions return: "Why do we spend two months in confinement if we return to zero?"

Gonzalo Herman

05/24/2020 - 17:48

• Clarín.com
• Society

The increase in coronavirus cases forced a reversal with the relaxation of the quarantine. But it won't be so easy to go back. The economic crisis may operate as an obstacle to slow down a definitive return to restrictions. Argentina has been confined for two months. That time worsened all economic and social indices. People are exhausted by multiple factors. There is concern about what the next few days will be like.

Closure of non-essential stores. Cabildo and Teodoro Garcia, another area where stores must be closed. Photo: German García Adrasti

The head of the Buenos Aires government, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta announced this Sunday which will be the areas in which commercial activity will be completely closed. The merchants of Cabildo between Céspedes and Maure, and Federico Lacroze, between September 11 and Zapiola, will have to lower the blinds for the next fifteen days. But this Sunday, in the few stores in those areas that were open, employees were not yet aware of the new regulations and did not know what will happen from this Monday.

In dialogue with Clarín, the employees could not answer what was going to happen either. "We don't know anything. They didn't tell us anything. We are finding out from you," said Romina, an employee at a Cabildo and Palpa pizzeria, who was still dispatching take away at noon.

This response was the same in almost all the premises that Clarín was able to reveal. Most were non-essential food or food merchants that had been operating under the "Take Away" modality. Of the 20 places consulted, there was only one where the employee, Victoria, a native of Venezuela, knew of the new selective quarantine. "We do know that there was a change in quarantine but for now, from the company, no directive has been lowered. Most likely, we will return to work only with delivery," she said.

Closure of non-essential stores.Av Cabildo and Federico Lacroze.Photo: German Garcia Adrasti

In other locations, employees did not believe the owner decided to close. "We come from two months of quarantine without working. I don't think they want to close again now. The situation is critical and we need to work. We can't go back," said Ignacio, from a bakery on Lacroze Avenue.

Until this Sunday, the easing had been a fact and the Government was allowing it in a low voice. But the announcements on Saturday night made by Alberto Fernández, along with Larreta and the Governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kiciloff, point to the withdrawal. This Sunday, despite the cold and gray weather, families with children were seen walking the streets. They all wore chinstraps and kept their distance. When asked about the new rules, the mayarians were displeased. "Why were we locked up for two months, if we now have to go back to ground zero?" Asked Ricardo, a Belgrano neighbor, annoyed.

Although there is concern on the street about contagion, many consulted by this newspaper also showed their helplessness in the context of confinement and the fear of an unprecedented economic crisis. "I do not know how we are going to get out of this. I hope the peak will come soon and go, so we can return to something more normal," sighed Carmen, as she walks with her five-year-old daughter in Cabildo.

GS