Guido Carelli Lynch
04/24/2020 - 19:52
- Clarín.com
- Politics
In a repeated mechanic, President Alberto Fernández received the support and endorsement of the governors to extend the mandatory quarantine to contain the coronavirus , which has been in place for 36 days. During the videoconference that he held this Friday afternoon, the head of state did not specify the provincial leaders until when this new phase of preventive and compulsory social isolation will be extended. But in the Executive branch they take it for granted that the fourth phase - the targeted quarantine , which has actually already begun, will last until May 10. The governors are preparing a statement to support the prolongation of the isolation. It is a strong political backing amid the pressures to relax the measure and in the midst of the financial storm that brought the blue dollar to its record price.
The president, who enabled the return of more activities in more than a dozen provinces, following the requests of the governors, warned about the danger that the indiscriminate return of activities would mean. "When we open and allow people to go out into the street, the speed of contagion will inevitably increase , there will inevitably be people who are infected and sick. Some will be asymptomatic and others will have to bear the disease. The secret of this is how it opens and that people go out into the street. The risk is that we are not handling a dropper, which allows us to dropper how many people circulate, "reflected Fernández.
The President will announce this Saturday in a press conference until when this new stage of the quarantine will be extended. It is more than an open secret that would continue until May 10.
Since he declared the quarantine on March 20, each time he extended the measure again he spoke with the infectologists and with the provincial leaders before communicating the isolation for 15 days. On Thursday he had already met for about 3 hours with the specialists, whom he listens to most in this crisis, with whom he discussed the possibility that up to three boys can make brief recreational outings, accompanied by their parents.
Tucumán Governor Juan Manzur dialogues with the President.
That topic was not touched on in the meeting with the governors. "It is not defined," they said very close to the President. Governors have different points of view. The head of Government Horacio Rodríguez Larreta has already ruled it out for the City. The same thing had been done weeks ago with the possibility of enabling runners. In the Capital there will be no place for flexibility. “We noticed a feeling of relaxation in people. We are only working so that the take away is consolidated without it generating more people on the move, ”they explained at the head of government.
On the other hand, Rodolfo Suarez , from Mendoza, who has already received the guarantee for the return of the private work, hopes that the Government will allow him to enable his runners. Another radical, Gerardo Morales from Jujuy, has already received the green light so that the citizens of his province can do physical exercise outdoors and do paperwork. During the videoconference, Morales recounted that there have been no cases registered in his district for 20 days.
After the inclusion of eleven new activities excepted by the Government at the beginning of the week, the targeted quarantine formally began. On Thursday, the President authorized the return of the private work in San Juan, Misiones, Neuquén, Santa Cruz, Entre Ríos, Salta, La Pampa, and the aforementioned Mendoza and Jujuy.
Each district has its peculiarities. As González García explained days ago, 95 percent of the problem occurs in large urban centers: the City, Greater Buenos Aires, Greater Mendoza, Greater Rosario and Greater Córdoba.
As Juan Manzur from Tucumán explained, his province is the smallest and the most densely populated in the country, a reason that forces him not to relax the quarantine, in harmony with the City. "We must increase the testing capacity. There is no doubt that Argentina has made the right decision at the right time and has managed to show the world a managed quarantine that has had a very positive result on the health of all Argentines. I support this decision to extend the quarantine from Tucumán "Said the Governor and former Minister of Health.
Axel Kicillof was the only provincial president who was in Olivos and would be the last to speak.
The head of government, another regular visitor to the presidential residence, -attentive to the riot in the Devoto prison- this time followed the virtual meeting from his office, like most of the 22 governors. The President of the Cabinet Santiago Cafiero , the Minister of the Interior Eduardo “Wado” De Pedro and his health partner, Ginés González García, and the Secretary General of the Presidency Julio Vitobello also accompanied the President .
The coordinating minister asked the governors not to make their presentations too lengthy. They presented in alphabetical order.
Alicia Kirchner congratulated the President for the repatriation operations for Argentines. Fernández highlighted the operation in the Neuquén town of Loncopué, which was armored after a wave of infections. "It is a witness case," he said, congratulating Omar Gutiérrez.
The meeting was more formal than the last one. The President maintains permanent dialogue with the governors. On Thursday, Economy Minister Martín Guzmán had agreed with his provincial counterparts to bow to the national debt restructuring strategy. Now, he received closed political support.