Amid a record surge in the number of coronavirus infections, President Alberto Fernández has concluded there is "no margin" to further liberalise quarantine measures in Greater Buenos Aires.
As more than 470 new cases were recorded in Argentina on Wednesday, the president met for more than three hours with health experts, officials and the heads of the Buenos Aires City and Province governments to study whether there was scope to liberalise the restrictions in place to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.
The decision was unanimous and not difficult to reach, according to reports.
Sources in the government said that Fernández, City Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta and provincial Governor Axel Kicillof were all in agreement that "there is no margin to make anything more flexible" given the current situation.
The source told Noticias Argentinas that for now, the three leaders had agreed that "Axel keeps everything closed and Horacio does not open anything else up."
Health Ministry officials said that nine people had died from the virus in Argentina on Wednesday, lifting the death toll to 403.
According to reports, talk during the meeting was focused on the "need to maintain coordination between the Nation, the province and the City to address the problem in vulnerable neighbourhoods.
"We must put all our efforts into the vulnerable neighbourhoods," the source said, according to reports.
Governments spokespeople later briefed agencies that "the situation of the City is worrying but the idea is to help," saying that the leaders had analysed "all possibilities." Additional meetings between technical teams were planned for Thursday, the spokesperson said.
Upon leaving the Casa Rosada, Kicillof told reporters that "this is not a political problem, but an epidemiological one," saying the idea was for his government to be closely coordinated with the City administration.
He brushed away rumours of unrest between his government-aligned administration and Rodríguez Larreta's government, saying such stories were "infantile."
"This is not a competition, about who is doing better or worse," he said, vowing to do everything possible to protect his constituents.
– TIMES/NA
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