Once the quarantine decreed by the Peruvian Government —within the framework of the national emergency to face the coronavirus— has ended, the activities that do not involve major crowds will resume in order to avoid a new COVID-19 contagion, President Martin Vizcarra has affirmed.
"We are semi-paralyzed as a country, and this will last even after the state of emergency ends on April 26. The activities will resume gradually and slowly during the entire month of May, so as not to generate the (new) outbreak of the disease," he indicated.
For this reason, the Head of State said that —as of April 27— not everything will be normal, but the activities —which can be carried out without generating massive concentrations of people— will gradually restart.
"The concentration of people will have to wait, but there are many activities that can be done while abiding by the provisions we have decreed," he expressed.
The top official indicated that Peru is currently in the middle of the emergency's first phase and that the second one would begin this June.
Second phase
In that phase —he indicated— the construction sector would resume its corresponding activities, but following a security protocol to guarantee that there is no crowding and that social distancing is respected.
The statesman projected that —by the end of 2020 or in early 2021— a state of normality would be reached in the country and rest of the world, once science has been able to create a vaccine aimed at preventing the COVID-19 and improving medical treatments to fight this disease.
"To sum up, we have to generate the conditions to leave behind the hibernation process we are immersed in, so that —by the end of this year or in the first quarter of next year— we are kind of able to return to normality," he stated.
Third stage
In this sense, the national emergency's third stage would begin in the first quarter of 2021, and this should be one characterized by change, emphasized the Head of State.
"We must learn the lesson, as we have suffered for not being prepared; we need to make deep structural changes," he remarked.
As is known, the general elections will be held in April 2021. In this regard, Mr. Vizcarra has —more than once— ruled out running for reelection.