Armed Forces and Police take control of Guayas, the province most affected by the coronavirus in Ecuador

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Ecuador faces an increase in deaths from coronavirus 1:30

(CNN Spanish) - After the president of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, declared the province of Guayas as a "national security zone", Governor Pedro Pablo Duart and authorities of the Armed Forces and the Police released details on how The Joint Task Force will operate in that province, the one most affected by the new coronavirus.

As of this Tuesday, according to the Ecuador Emergency Operations Committee, more than 800 of the 1,082 confirmed cases of covid-19 are registered in Guayas throughout the national territory.

The chief of staff of the Navy, Amílcar Villavicencio, said that "for reason or by force" we must act in Guayas in the face of the accelerated expansion of the coronavirus. "By reason or by force, we will save the lives of citizens," he reiterated. He regretted that people have breached the curfew.

Villavicencio indicated that the Joint Task Force involves the participation of all the security forces in Guayas to prevent the spread of the virus. He emphasized that the purpose "is not to repress" people, but that conscience will be appealed to, obedience will be demanded and coercion will be fine.

For her part, the Chief of Staff of the Police, Tania Varela, explained that there are dozens of critical points in the province that must be controlled and that, to this end, reaction groups have been incorporated between the Police and the Armed Forces to insist on the population that stays in their homes.

He said that external and internal fences have been set up in the province to control the mobility of people and vehicles. Varela assured that getting out of the crisis generated by the new coronavirus "depends more on citizens than on the actions we are taking."

The governor of Guayas, Pedro Pablo Duart, reported that the hotel sector has made hotels available to adapt them and serve infected people. Again and again he asked the citizens of Guayas to stay in their homes and to maintain the recommended sanitary measures. He also asked them not to spread false news about people acting "devilishly" to generate fear and chaos.

The President of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno, ordered this Tuesday the extension of the curfew, throughout the country, from 2 in the afternoon until 5 in the morning.

Lenin Moreno