CARACAS, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Venezuela's Health Minister Carlos Alvarado said on Monday that the sector he heads "remained in operation" despite the blackouts caused by attacks against the nation's electricity system.
"We have maintained and will maintain the full operation of the health system," Alvarado said in a statement made on the state-run television station.
The health sector continues to operate in the areas of critical emergencies, surgeries and intensive care, he said.
"So far we have not had any serious consequences to bemoan as a result of the attack on the electricity system," he said.
"Most of our hospitals, our health centers have recovered the power supply," he said.
He clarified that in spite of the recovery of electricity service, the country's hospitals maintain "their own power plants in case of new outages."
In addition, he said the supply of drinking water is also functioning in health centers.
Since March 7, Venezuela has suffered seven massive outages. The government has described the outages as an "attack" from the country's right-wing and its international backers, and called on the people to mobilize to confront the "electricity war."
