Ecuador adopts new restrictions

Quito, March 30 Ecuador adopted new restrictions on mobility and the sale of alcohol in an effort to further curb Covid-19 spread during the upcoming holidays, President Lenin Moreno announced.

In his announcement on Monday, Moreno said the new restrictions were approved a day earlier by the Emergency Operations Committee (COE), which manages the health crisis at the national level, for the upcoming Easter holiday (April 2, 3 and 4) and International Workers' Day on May 1, reports Xinhua news agency.

Restrictions were placed on light vehicles on national roads according to the last odd or even number of their licence plates from 12 p.m. to midnight.

The sales and consumption of alcohol was also prohibited on those holidays starting at 6 p.m.

He added that local authorities were asked to close beaches on April 2, 3 and 4, and suspend large events.

The National COE President Juan Zapata said in a statement that the data delivered on the accumulated incidence rate, hospital capacity and number of deaths, "are very concerning".

He pointed out that in the provinces of Pichincha, Guayas and Manabi, the hardest hit by the pandemic in the country, there are dozens of patients on waiting lists for intensive care unit beds.

Zapata also noted that as of this month, there has been a 25 per cent increase in the number of deaths in the country compared to the same month last year.

Ecuador, which is slowly advancing its vaccination plan, has so far reported 325,124 Covid-19 cases and 11,880 deaths.

( With inputs from IANS )