Several protests took place in Buenos Aires on Saturday to denounce the new health restrictions imposed in order to stem the upsurge in the COVID-19 epidemic.
• Read also: All the developments of the pandemic
Waving Argentinian flags and chanting slogans hostile to President Alberto Fernandez, the demonstrators in particular focused their protests against the suspension for 15 days of face-to-face classes in schools, which will come into force on Monday in the capital and its outskirts, epicenter of the contagion.
“Education is essential”, “No to closing schools”, was it written on the banners held up by the protesters.
The new restrictions concern the capital and its periphery, or 15 million of the country’s 45 million inhabitants.
In Buenos Aires, the occupancy of intensive care units reached 74.3% on Saturday, against 64.8% nationally.
Restrictions include a nighttime curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. local time until April 30.
Argentina recorded 19,119 new cases and 80 deaths on Saturday, for a total toll of more than 2.6 million cases and 59,164 deaths.
To date, more than 6.2 million people have been vaccinated, including 794,878 with the second dose.