During the Christmas holidays hundreds of people went for a walk to the Peruvian beaches, which caused crowds.
Peru will close its beaches and public pools on December 31 and January 1 to avoid crowds and risks that can spread new infections of COVID-19 during the New Year holidaysthe government reported Wednesday.
“At the national level, on December 31 and January 1, the use of beaches, lakes, rivers, lagoons and public swimming pools will not be allowed,” said Health Minister Hernando Cevallos at a press conference.
“First is to defend the health of the population and avoid massive infections”Cevallos added.
He indicated that the rest of the summer days will be able to go to the beaches, respecting the capacity and the measures established by the government in the face of the pandemic, such as the use of a mask and distancing.
The Armed Forces and the police will support the municipalities in the surveillance of the beaches. During the Christmas holidays hundreds of people went for a walk to the beaches, which caused crowds.
Peru closed its beaches between December 2020 and January 2021 to avoid crowds and an escalation of new cases of covid-19.
The Andean country faces an outbreak of the pandemic: in the last month infections doubled, to more than 1,500 per day. After regrowth, the government banned family gatherings and parties on Christmas and New Years, and advanced the curfew that goes from 23:00 to 04:00 during those days.
Figures of COVID-19 in Peru
Peru hopes to mitigate with these measures the takeoff of the highly contagious omicron variant, of which it registers 116 cases, according to the Ministry of Health. In addition, it reinforced the vaccination campaign, which reaches 77% of the target population.
The Peruvian government extended until January 31 the state of emergency in force for 21 months due to the pandemic.
With 33 million inhabitants, This South American country has the highest death rate from the pandemic in the world: 6,122 per million inhabitants, according to an AFP balance based on official figures.
Peru accumulates more than two million cases of covid-19 and more than 202,000 deaths since the start of the pandemic in early 2020. (I)
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