Guido Carelli Lynch
03/17/2021 21:12
Clarín.com
Politics
Updated 03/17/2021 9:43 PM
The contagions stopped falling and began to grow.
The members of the infectious disease committee that advises the President are warning loudly that
the second wave is on its way
.
The health ministers of the provinces demanded more restrictions on the borders due to the danger of the new strains.
In the Government they study them and have them in a folder, but for now they are delaying them so as not to hinder the
economic recovery
.
Concerned about the
detection of the Manaus variant in Córdoba
, Alberto Fernández will lead this Thursday before noon a meeting with the 24 governors to assess the health situation.
The only consolation is that for now there is no community transmission of this strain, more aggressive than the one circulating in the country.
This is the first videoconference with the provincial leaders since January 6, when the contagion curve had skyrocketed and the President sought to share the political cost of new restrictions.
At that time, despite the idea of "absolute consensus" that the Executive wanted to install, the governors of Mendoza and Córdoba and the head of the Buenos Aires government differed.
Finally, Fernández signed a decree with “recommendations”.
Alberto Fernández in a new videoconference with governors to decide the continuation of the ASPO.
Photo: Presidency
In the Casa Rosada they affirm that they
learned from the mistakes
of the past - the cost of hard quarantine - and pay attention to "social humor."
For this reason, and with an eye on dialogue with governors, Interior Ministry officials and Cabinet ministers communicated with different governors;
in particular, with those that border other countries.
Gerardo Morales
(Jujuy),
Gustavo Valdés
(Corrientes) and
Alberto Rodríguez Saá
are some of those who received calls.
Omar Gutiérrez from
Neuquén
passed through La Rosada and Fernández's office, who on Friday will travel to Catamarca to meet with provincial leaders and announce works.
The vaccination operation and the arrival of more vaccines will also be analyzed.
Over the weekend, after the President extended the ASPO until April 9 and further restricted flights to countries where there are new variants of coronavirus, it emerged that the President could further discourage travel abroad.
Scientists arriving at the most important offices of the Casa Rosada requested the
closure of borders
.
The migration department and the Legal and Technical secretariat have already ruled it out.
"
It is unconstitutional,
" they explain.
However, the Executive is studying less critical measures to discourage Argentine travel abroad.
Collaborators of the President circulated the possibility of establishing the "
Canadian model
", where each passenger has the obligation to pay for the PCR tests and their accommodation for isolation in a mandatory way.
In the Government they assure that it is unlikely and difficult to comply (and that it could even be illegal) to retain citizens in a hotel, which is also in their charge.
However, they do not rule out the possibility that travelers have to pay for their own swab at the airport and wait there for the results.
They also appeal for effective compliance with rigorous post-trip isolations that must be efficiently controlled by the 24 jurisdictions.
"They are dissuasive measures," they say.
At the end of this Wednesday, in important offices of the Executive there were conflicting versions about the imminence of
new restrictions on local circulation
.
In some offices they do not rule out that before the weekend
there will be a return to night restrictions
, such as those established in January.
The Buenos Aires Vice Minister of Health announced it last Friday, although later his request was relativized by the President's order to "close as little as possible."
In the midst of the deliberations and in a climate of secrecy, Health Minister
Carla Vizzotti
-who did not want to speak to accredited journalists- held a meeting with Legal and Technical Secretary
Vilma Ibarra
and with Chief of Staff
Santiago Cafiero
.
In the next few days there could be news, they say.
Land borders, meanwhile, remain closed.
Air crossings are only enabled for Argentines or resident foreigners.
Some voices in the Executive say that the governors understood the danger posed by the new strains and will act accordingly.