Peru's Production Min: We are minimizing COVID19 risks without closing commercial activity

"What we are doing is minimizing the risk, but without closing commercial activities. If we close commercial activities, the impact would be very rough on hundreds of thousands of workers who depend on this Christmas season to sell their products at shopping centers, conglomerates, shopping arcades, and department stores," Chicoma said in remarks to Andina news agency.

"The most important thing is always to ensure the health of the Peruvian population, but we also must consider that —at the moment— there are no conditions to close activities," he added.

Likewise, the Cabinet member indicated that several meetings have been held at the headquarters of the Ministry of Production with representatives of conglomerates and shopping centers, as well as mayors and governors, to ensure that measures are taken with the aim of avoiding crowds.

"The measures are temporary, preventive, precise, and territorialized. What we want is to ensure or minimize the possibilities of higher risk situations that occur this Christmas season, such as crowds or interaction between acquaintances or relatives," he said.

In this sense, the minister commented that Peruvians make 70% of their purchases one week prior to Christmas. This leads to generating crowds.

(END) CNA/MVB