Government says it will not change DNU, promises tough restrictions end on Sunday

The 35,399 cases recorded on Wednesday, the fifth day of the strict detention ordered by Alberto Fernández, raised concerns in government, which analyzes how the restrictions will continue to lower the contagion curve from this Sunday, May 30, when according to the decree of necessity and emergency, in force until June 11, the phase of hard isolation ends.

Despite the alarm that implies a significant increase after two public holidays where figures of less than 25,000 cases had been recorded, the government assures that the roadmap established by the president in the DNU “will not change” and that “it is not in analysis” to reproduce a strong quarantine next week.

“As of May 31 epidemiological measures of traffic lights continue“, Chief of Staff Santiago Cafiero, interviewed on La Red radio station, replied on Wednesday on how the restrictions would continue.

Although the interview took place before the contagion data was known, the government’s decision appears to be separate from the new numbers. In addition, the decree is already planning a strict closure for the weekend of June 5 and 6 and it only eases restrictions on professional activities: it maintains the restriction on night traffic, the ban on social gatherings and the list of essentials that can travel by public transport.

“We knew the infections weren’t going to go down overnight and would likely continue to grow because today we see what happened two weeks ago and we know that at that only then, we will see the effect that this closure has generated “. explained a man of the greatest confidence of the president.

“In general, we see that the measure is filled and that there was a sharp drop in traffic, ”he analyzed the development of current measures.

At the same time, the Government is at a crossroads to avoid a new contradiction, after last Tuesday, before Clarín’s information The return to phase 1 being under analysis, Alberto F. dismissed it (“People cannot resist it), which finally materialized on Friday.

“It would not be a good sign to change the DNU now “, admit Bugle close to the Head of State, who based his DNU on the need to make an effort “for a limited time”. “People react because they know 30 is ending,” they add.

With these prospects, from next Monday, the epidemiological fire will return to the rule with the same parameters and the corresponding suspension of the activities contained in the bill to manage the pandemic that Fernández promotes in Congress.

This diagram, which divides the country in terms of health by zones – alarm and high epidemiological risk, and medium and low risk – according to the occupation of beds in the ICU or the incidence of cases during the last 14 days, among other variables, is the government going to respect “except – they clarify – when you have to hit a hammer“.

As Clarín had progressed, given the social erosion after a year and a half of pandemic and the low economic margin, the Government decided to use the strategy of strong intermittent closures, for short periods. , to avoid overflows.

In this sense, although the ruling party foresees that DNU 334/2021 will be “the last” de Fernández for the management of the pandemic, because the law that Congress was debating would begin to govern, they do not exclude that “later” the president must resort to new strict closures.

It is, they point out, a format that has already been used in Spain, France and Italy, among other countries that Fernández visited weeks ago, and which has offered good results in containing cases and ensuring their compliance.

When does the president plan to strike another “blow of the hammer”? In government they don’t talk about dates and They bet that the arrival of vaccines will decompress the health situation in June. With this sketch, with nearly 7.5 million doses – between the 2,785,200 arrived in recent days and the 4.7 million expected from AstraZeneca and Covax – expected to arrive before the middle of the month, officials hope that this will be the case “only in extreme situations“Such was, according to what they say, the one that the president warned last week.

Classes, a separate subject

Beyond the fact that the decision is that non-essential activities will resume work next Monday and that progress is underway with the realization of the Copa América totally in the country (Colombia has been uploaded as a complementary location), the Government does not want the return of face-to-face classes in the metropolitan area of ​​Buenos Aires. Without objection from the governor of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, Alberto F. will focus on the city.

“If (CABA) is on epidemiological alert, classes must be virtualCafiero recalled Wednesday, in a direct message to the head of government of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta.

The mayor has already made his contribution of “good will” to avoid another fight by suspending classes this week. It was after last Thursday that the president asked him almost “personally”, in a secret interview (“very good”, according to official sources) that they held hours before the announcement, to review his position and ” accompany this measure at least in the stage of strict containment.

In Balcarce 50 They do not rule out that there will be another call in the next few hours, although they recognize that the internal pressure suffered by Larreta in Juntos por el Cambio would condition the leadership.