The port city of Guayaquil, epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic in Ecuador, one of the most affected countries in Latin America, will begin Wednesday to alleviate the confinement imposed for nine weeks on the whole national territory, announced on Monday Mayor Cyntha Viteri. "From Wednesday, May 20, we will go cautiously, with restrictive measures, to the state of yellow lights, " Cyntha Viteri told the press. Since early April, the Ecuadorian government has used a system of red, yellow (orange in other countries) and green colors, similar to traffic lights, to identify risk areas.
The 221 Ecuadorian cantons were first classified in red, with very restrictive measures such as a 15-hour curfew per day, compulsory telework and suspension of classroom teaching. Since May 12, only three cantons have turned yellow, phase during which the curfew is reduced to eight hours and external medical consultations, urban transport, face-to-face work limited to 50% of staff, and activities are re-established. commercial. Quito and several of the main Ecuadorian cities remain red, as part of the state of emergency decreed by the government two months ago and extended until mid-June.
Read also: Coronavirus: abandoned corpses in the streets of the second city of Ecuador
Ecuador, a small country of 17.5 million inhabitants, has nearly 34,000 confirmed cases, including some 2,800 dead, in addition to 1,700 others probably due to Covid-19. The province of Guayas, of which Guayaquil is the capital, concentrates 53% of the cases, including 1,328 deaths. "We have a reasonable level of contamination and a much lower death toll than during the most difficult days , " said the mayor of Guayaquil, the country's economic capital.
Since the new coronavirus was detected in Ecuador on February 29, medical and funeral systems have collapsed in this city of 2.7 million, which has approximately 9,100 cases. The daily death toll from all causes rose from 700 at the worst of the crisis to 85 on average in May in Guayas, according to the civil status service.
Read also: LIVE - Coronavirus: 131 dead in 24 hours in France, less than 2000 patients in intensive care
But if it intends to break out of containment, Guayaquil does not consider the pandemic controlled. “There can be a rebound, a second wave if the necessary measures are not taken. So, we would be forced (...) to go back to red, " warned Cyntha Viteri. Green allows you to return to work with 70% of the staff present, a five-hour curfew per day and inter-cantonal transport. The government allows mayors to decide to exit containment in order to reactivate the economy, which has been greatly affected by the pandemic.
