At the gates of the beginning of the first long holiday of the year, from Saturday February 26 to Tuesday March 1, on the occasion of carnival, The spokespersons of several public entities announced this Thursday details of the control operations that will be carried out on highways, land terminals, security, and risk management.
About 100,000 civil servants (policemen, operators, technicians, administrative personnel, among others) will participate in the planned actions, said Juan Zapata, director of the national Emergency Operations Committee (COE), who stressed that this holiday will have fewer restrictions, due to the reduction in COVID-19 infections and the advancement of vaccination.
For this reason, he called on citizens to comply with biosecurity measures and avoid excesses. “The community is the one that has to take on this challenge,” he said.
From the Integrated Security System ECU911, he indicated, they will be activated 6,500 monitoring cameras, 254 public address alarms and 161 early warning points.
Government estimates that 1.2 million people mobilize during the rest dayssaid Niels Olsen, Minister of Tourism. “We hope that the carnival holiday will be the best in the last five years,” he said.
The goal is that the tourism sector moves $70 million, pushed by the VAT reduction from 12 to 8% in tourist activities and due to the expansion of capacity, thus exceeding the $67 million of February 2020, when there was no pandemic, Olsen explained.
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The National Transit Agency (ANT) will review the intra and interprovincial public transport units in the 68 land terminals in the country, as well as on public roads. The operation will begin on Friday afternoon and will end on Tuesday, the conditions of the buses, rates, capacity and documentation of the drivers will be reviewed.
Carlos Fernández, management coordinator of the ANT, reported that the Supervision will be done through special brigades in conjunction with the National Police, the Transit Commission of Ecuador (CTE) and the Decentralized Autonomous Governments (GAD).
On the part of the Police, the control will begin at noon on Friday, February 25, until 06:00 on Wednesday, March 2, said General Fausto Salinas. I know will strengthen security at critical points, in prisons, in border areas and special actions will be deployed in the province of Esmeraldas and in cities that have massive events scheduled, such as Ambato.
In addition, operations against illegal mining will continue and a contingent will act in case of emergencies due to natural disasters, Salinas said.
State of the roads
Of the 10,264 kilometers of roads that are in charge of the Ministry of Transport and Public Works (MTOP), 6,258 (61%) are in good condition; while 4,005 kilometers (39%) “are in conditions to circulate with caution”exposed Carolina Ormaza, Deputy Minister of Transportation.
Main road axes where work is currently being carried out They are:
- In Esmeraldas, the Quinindé – Esmeraldas road
- In Manabí, road Y from Rocafuerte – Bahía – San Vicente
- In Pichincha, the road Alóag – Santo Domingo
- In Azuay, on the Molleturo – El Empalme road
On the last routeOrmaza clarified that for the carnival holiday the Vehicular circulation will be enabled from 05:00 to 17:00. After the holiday, starting March 2, the road will be closed for 40 days, while work is done on the slope.
As for the Roads that remain closed are:
- In Sucumbíos, via Baeza – Reventador – Nueva Loja. The alternate route is Lago Agrio – Loreto – Coca
- In Imbabura, via Salinas – San Lorenzo. The alternate route is Ibarra – Tulcán – Chilca – Lita
- In Napo, via Baeza – Lago Agrio. The alternate route is Y from Narupa – Baeza – Coca
- In Bolívar, via Guanujo – Echendía, it is restricted from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.
- In Cotopaxi, on the Latacunga – La Maná road it will be possible to circulate from 07:00 to 18:00
Additionally, Ormaza indicated that the traffic control on the roads for the holiday will be activated on Friday at 12:00, until 24:00 on Tuesday, March 1.
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Vaccination against COVID-19 will continue
The figures of positive cases of COVID-19 remain in a stable and constant reductionaffirmed the Vice Minister of Health, José Ruales, while commenting that it is expected to continue with this level if biosecurity measures are respected.
According to epidemiological reports, the last week 13,600 registered cases compared to 51,300 in the third week of January. Likewise, hospitalization has decreased.
Ruales pointed out that 88.5% of the population over 5 years of age have received the first dose, 84% have two doses and 25% have the booster dose.
In this regard, he specified that the program of vaccination will proceed normally during the holiday, through 180 centers deployed in the country.
remembered that mandatory use of the mask is maintained in closed and open spaces, as well as the presentation of the card or vaccination certificate.
The The national COE will meet again on Monday, March 14, to assess the effects of the carnival and make new decisions. (I)
Source: Eluniverso
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