The new variant of the coronavirus has already been identified in at least 16 countries around the world. It was discovered on November 25 in South Africa.
On the night of November 29, 2021, the President of the Republic, Guillermo Lasso, addressed the country to announce a series of measures that seek to prevent the effects of the new variant of coronavirus, named by the World Health Organization (WHO ) as omicron.
These are the measures announced by the President:
- Prohibition of entry to the country to all people whose point of origin, stopover or transit is the specific list of African countries that will be published by the competent authorities (this list of countries is not yet known).
- The The border with Colombia will be reopened in phases. The first contemplates the international transport of merchandise with biosafety protocols.
- All the Travelers from the rest of the world must present their vaccination certificate with the complete scheme, as well as a negative PCR test maximum 72 hours from its performance.
- The children and adolescents between the ages of two and 16 must have a negative PCR test with a maximum of 72 hours of validity prior to boarding the flight that will arrive in Ecuador.
- If there is a suspicious case among travelers, a real-time PCR test will be performed. If the result is positive, you will need to do an isolation of 14 days.
In his speech, Lasso also released resolutions on capacity at public events:
- The massive events should have a Maximum capacity of 50% with all biosafety protocols.
- Given that, he asked the municipalities that events in open and closed places with ventilation be with a maximum of 50% capacity and with a distance of 1.5 meters Between people.
- The mandatory use of mask and hand washing.
- Constant surface disinfection.
- In the public sector buildings it will be mandatory to present a vaccination certificate full.
- In addition, he suggested that this measure also be applied in theaters, cinemas, bars, nightclubs, stadiums and other similar spaces.
- Public transport at 100% capacity with the mandatory use of a mask.
Before concluding his speech, the President asked citizens to go to the health centers that operate throughout the country to get vaccinated. Especially those people who have not yet received any vaccine and who they can already receive the third dose, Well, they have already completed six months since they completed the two-dose schedule.
“Complete the outline and help keep everyone safe. We are very close to achieving herd immunity. We have 70% of the population over five years vaccinated. It is one of the highest percentages in the world. If you belong to the minority that has not been vaccinated, do so now ”, he concluded.
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