QUITO, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Ecuador adopted new restrictions on mobility and the sale of alcohol to curb COVID-19 infections during the upcoming holidays, President Lenin Moreno announced on Monday.
Moreno said the new restrictions were approved on Sunday by the Emergency Operations Committee (COE), which manages the health crisis at the national level, for the upcoming Easter holiday (April 2, 3 and 4) and International Workers' Day on May 1.
Restrictions were placed on light vehicles on national roads according to the last odd or even number of their licence plates from 12 p.m. to midnight.
The sales and consumption of alcohol was also prohibited on those holidays starting at 6:00 p.m.
He added that local authorities were asked to close beaches on April 2, 3 and 4, and suspend large events.
The National COE President Juan Zapata said in a video released by the government that the data delivered on the accumulated incidence rate, hospital capacity and number of deaths, "are very concerning."
He pointed out that in the provinces of Pichincha, Guayas and Manabi, the hardest hit by the pandemic in the country, there are dozens of patients on waiting lists for intensive care unit beds.
Zapata also noted that as of March, there has been a 25-percent increase in the number of deaths in the country compared to the same month last year.
Ecuador, which is slowly advancing its vaccination plan, reported 325,124 COVID-19 cases and 11,880 deaths as of Monday. Enditem
