Coronavirus in Uruguay: Luis Lacalle Pou spoke about Argentina to explain why he rejects confinement

the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, mentioned last night the health situation of the country in full second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, which hit him harder than the first, and faced with the demands of certain opposition figures and doctors who ask him to take more measures, he explained the reasons why you can’t stand strict containment.

“The mandatory quarantine This is a discussion that is not new, it was raised by former President Tabaré Vázquez, many people as well. We refused for various reasons. There is obviously a philosophical reason for freedom ”, the president said in an interview with Channel 10, and added: “A total shutdown means shutting down everything and that must first be done by law and you must use the public force.”

“If I catch a cardboard maker working I have to stop him, because it is not an essential activity for the company, it is for him”, He added in reference to what could happen if a total containment was imposed and detailed that in his opinion those who ask for such a decision to be made are all employees who do not need to go out to work every day. to earn money, as is the case with the informal sector of the population. “We call for responsibility in freedom.”

Although Lacalle asserted that “when cases increase, when deaths increase, criticism is generated, aggression, against the government, which makes sense,” he warned that sometimes he went up a position in which health is opposed to the social, to the economic. He also insisted that in his opinion reducing mobility will not work because several countries have done so and do not have better epidemic figures for it. “Has quarantine worked in the world? Neither yes, in some countries yes and in others no. Among our neighbors, who have a mandatory quarantine world record, they already know what the results are, ”he also remarked about Argentina. although without naming it.

“We are responsible for not taking the decision of a mandatory quarantine and we support it,” he added.

Also, referring to Honorary Scientific Advisory Group who is assisting his government in the midst of the virus crisis, and faced with the voices against him asserting that he had not taken into account his recommendations, the Uruguayan president assured: “In the collective imagination we say that the document was ignored, but I said it more than once: this document more or less proposed 27 measures, the government took 24 and a half. Which one not? Prohibit night traffic from 0 to 6, which we did not do because it is less than 5% and we already had the mechanisms against parties and crowds; cut interdepartmental traffic because this is not possible in our country; and shutting down bars and restaurants, which is the one that was caught in two “.

Then Lacalle was once again sure of the decisions that have been made since his administration and stressed that the way to deal with the coronavirus is to advance the vaccination. The president also highlighted the work of the health staff and warned that despite forecasts the health care system has not collapsed.

The president, among other things, mentioned the suspension of face-to-face classes in the country and indicated that for the moment the staggered returns were stopped due to the increase in cases but assured that the winter holidays will not be brought forward. .

“We went back to the classes where it was most needed”, he added with reference to students who live in a more vulnerable context.

Finally, Lacalle referred to the social assistance launched by his government to cope with the impact of the pandemic and confirmed that “spending at the Ministry of Social Development has doubled”. Regarding the measures which will come into force soon, he indicated that they will begin to support “retirees and retirees, or about 160,000 people” and that the amount of family allowances will increase from 1,000 to 2,500 Uruguayan pesos for each minor.

Until Uruguay reports 294,503 people affected in total, 36,654 active infected, 253,573 cured and 4,276 deaths. Regarding the vaccination campaign, the nation, which uses drugs from Pfizer / BioNTech, Sinovac and Oxford / AstraZeneca and has a population of 3,480,222, applied 2,818,367 doses (1,795,034 of the first and 1,023,333 of the second).

THE NATION

Conocé The Trust Project