Coronavirus: Peru begins partial deconfinement despite a worrying situation

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With nearly 300,000 cases and over 9,500 deaths, Peru is still among the six countries most affected by coronavirus in the world. However, the country begins a partial deconfinement this Wednesday, July 1. The quarantine is lifted in more than half of Peru (18 of the 25 regions), including the capital, which accounts for 60% of the country's coronavirus cases. 

Publicity

With our correspondent in Lima, Wyloën Munhoz-Boillot 

If Lima has nearly 160,000 cases of coronavirus, the curve is falling in the capital, according to the authorities, as in northeast Peru. But for Dr Ciro Maguiña, member of the Covid-19 committee of experts from the Ministry of Health, it was above all economic considerations that led the government to lift quarantine in a large part of the country. “We  had to reactivate the economy, because quarantine had become untenable. It was only working partially, ”he explains.

Indeed, for several weeks already, many Peruvians have been defying containment out of necessity. In Peru, 70% of workers depend on the informal sector, that is, they live from day to day. Not to mention those who lost their jobs during the pandemic. In Lima alone, this affects more than two million people.

►Also read: Coronavirus: Peru in desperate search for oxygen

But for Dr Maguiña, with this deconfinement, a second wave is inevitable. "  The second wave is coming," he laments. To minimize it, two strategies must be applied: treat mild cases and avoid community contaminations, that is to say that if a person is infected, he must be kept in solitary confinement for 14 days in a hotel paid for by the municipality to avoid contaminating its surroundings  ” .

To limit the risk of contagion as much as possible, wearing a mask and respecting barrier gestures are mandatory. The curfew is also maintained every day from 10 p.m. As for the borders, they remain closed, so still no international flights, at least until the end of the state of emergency on July 31.

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• Peru
• Coronavirus
• Health and Medicine