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Ecuador Adds 10,000 Cases to Coronavirus Count
(CNN Spanish) - In Ecuador, sectors continue to join that ask the Lenin Moreno government to withdraw its decision to start a "new normal" gradually starting on May 4.
Through a statement, the Guayas Medical College ruled against this measure. Doctors in the province most affected by the coronavirus in Ecuador consider that it is "hasty" and that decisions must be made according to "real statistical data" and when the health system is "truly prepared".
- LOOK: Ecuador will start phase of physical distancing gradually on May 4
The Provincial College of Doctors of Guayas also joined this statement, insisting that the resolution is "hasty." Julio Palomeque, an epidemiologist and member of the College, told the media that "if you start from false premises you can reach false conclusions" and that this decision could be "explosive" for the population. He also pointed out that "the government can wait at least two or three more weeks", to change the isolation
for social distancing and for the population to better understand how it will work.
On the other hand, the mayor of Quito, Jorge Yunda, sent a letter to the Emergency Operations Committee, in charge of managing the crisis, requesting the extension of social isolation until May 31 for the Metropolitan District of Quito, since he considers that this is a vital period for public health conditions to exist "to prevent the pandemic from generating uncontrollable damage."
This is what the Bicentennial Convention Center in Quito looks like.
Credit: RODRIGO BUENDIA / AFP via Getty Images
Yunda argues her request noting that the contagion curve in Quito has not stabilized, but has increased. It indicates that the Ecuadorian capital's health system does not have sufficient capacity to detect and isolate cases, and therefore considers that there must be additional time for companies and the productive sector to take appropriate measures.
Mayor Yunda believes that if the isolation time is extended, the population can be better informed and raise awareness about the use of the mask and other sanitary measures. He believes that it is necessary to promote the delivery of food kits for the most vulnerable population and to manage the injection of money into the city's economy through credits with multilateral organizations.
- MORE: Ecuador doubles the number of coronavirus infections after processing dammed tests
Finally, Yunda maintains its request in the Ecuadorian Constitution that promotes the guarantee of the rights to life and health of citizens and warns that the World Health Organization reported that the premature lifting of the confinement broadens the possibility of a regrowth of infections.
This Sunday, the Vice Minister of Health Francisco Xavier Solórzano, indicated that "citizen co-responsibility" will be very important for the gradual lifting of certain restrictions.
He said the reopening plan will apply only to certain activities such as e-commerce or internet sales of basic necessities. "It is not that on May 4 everyone leaves, this is not a social reopening, that is, we are not going to establish the previous behavior patterns," added Solórzano. He insisted that each person has the responsibility to take care of the others.
coronavirus