BUENOS AIRES, April 16 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez said on Friday that new restrictions on people's mobility, restaurants and in-person classes in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) aim to "drastically" reduce COVID-19 cases.
"Our plan is to drastically reduce circulation for 15 days to drastically reduce infections and thus give time to the city's health system to free up beds for the exclusive use of COVID-19 patients," the president explained after meeting with Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodriguez Larreta, according to a statement from the Presidency's office.
On Wednesday, Fernandez announced mobility restrictions between 8:00 p.m. local time and 6:00 a.m. the next day in the AMBA, an urban conglomerate of the federal capital and 40 contiguous municipalities, which went into effect on Friday and will continue until April 30.
In addition, he ordered the suspension of social, cultural, sports, religious and recreational activities in closed places, store closures at 7:00 p.m. and the suspension of face-to-face classes. Restaurants will only be able to serve in open-air spaces until 7:00 p.m., and offer delivery or pick-up service from 7:00 p.m. to 11 p.m.
"In light of what epidemiologists and the scientific community tell me, it is evident that only by reducing human contact can we contain the number of infections, and it is also evident that we have a really concerning level of hospital bed saturation in the city," Fernandez said.
As of Thursday, Argentina registered 2,629,156 COVID-19 cases and 58,925 deaths from the disease. Enditem
