Three Bolivian cities suspend parties due to the explosion of COVID-19 cases

Three cities bolivian They determined this Wednesday to suspend the permits for the New Year’s parties due to the “explosion” of contagion of COVID-19 in this fourth wave that came to touch the 5,000 daily cases, a record number in the entire pandemic.

The main cities of Bolivia such as La Paz, the seat of government, its neighbor El Alto, the most populated in the country, and the central Cochabamba decided to back down in the permits for parties before the latest figures of infections issued by the Ministry of Health.

The mayor of La Paz, Iván Arias, informed the media that this decision was made due to the increase in cases, despite being the “most vaccinated municipality” in the country against COVID-19.

“We have decided that life comes first, then parties, we have decided to suspend party permits because the peaks of 170 cases have exceeded expectations,” said Arias.

The mayor stated that around 7,000 people arrive in La Paz per day and that there are already approximately 42,000 who have arrived in the city “who are not necessarily vaccinated,” so decisions have to be made.

He also indicated that the intensive care units are currently 80% full and the municipal secretary of Health, Cecilia Vargas, asked the Ministry of Health to inform the entire country about the variants that are circulating and if the omicron.

COCHABAMBA AND EL ALTO

Likewise, the mayor of Cochabamba, Manfred Reyes Villa, also announced that the end of the year parties were suspended and asked the families to gather using biosecurity measures.

The Secretary of Health of Cochabamba, Aníbal Cruz, indicated that in this situation the municipality will expedite the rapid tests that detect COVID-19, as well as encourage the vaccination brigades to immunize the population.

In the same way, the mayor of El Alto, Eva Copa, announced that they will also suspend the parties in that city and that bars or discos that violate this determination will be sanctioned.

SANTA CRUZ

A couple of weeks ago, the authorities of the Santa Cruz region, the one hardest hit by the pandemic, decided to ban the end of the year parties due to the escalation of cases, like Tarija, located in the south of the country.

The Santa Cruz Government presented a list of recommendations that they will send to the 55 mayors of Santa Cruz so that they can implement them, among the suggestions is not to hold parties, prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages, the vehicle restriction on New Years, among others.

“We will intensify hospital care, especially intensive care units, but these measures will not be enough, if there is not the commitment of all to avoid massive social activities at the end of the year,” said the governor, Luis Fernando Camacho.

In the Amazon region, Beni, a departmental red alert was declared due to the considerable increase in COVID-19 cases.

The latest report from the Ministry of Health gives an account of 4,934 new cases and 46 deaths in one day, of which 3,278 infections were registered in Santa Cruz, 451 in La Paz and 415 in Cochabamba.

Bolivia accumulates 585,624 positive cases and 19,622 deaths since the first infections were identified in March 2020.

Meanwhile, vaccination continues and 9,633,790 doses have been provided between unit doses, first, second and third vaccines that are already applied to children between 5 and 11 years old.

From January of next year it will be mandatory to present the vaccination card to enter public and private places.