Ecuador adds 247 new cases of Covid-19 and accumulates 476,312 positive cases

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Ecuador added this Monday 247 new records of covid-19 infection and accumulated 476,312 positive cases during the pandemic, according to the Ministry of Public Health in its daily epidemiological report.

The number of confirmed deaths from covid-19 rose to 16,237, which is 6 deaths more than on Sunday, in addition to 5,721 “probable deaths” with this disease, for a total of 21,958 deaths in the environment of the pandemic, the source said.

Pichincha, whose capital is Quito, is the most affected of the 24 provinces that make up the country, with 70 new cases of infection, bringing its cumulative total to 172,067.

Next comes the coastal province of Guayas, whose capital is Guayaquil, with 67,030 infections, 14 more than the day before; followed by Manabí (32,556), Azuay (26,077), El Oro (22,254), Loja (17,405), Imbabura (15,836), Tungurahua (14,910), Los Ríos (12,838), Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas (11,837), Cotopaxi (11,749) and Esmeraldas (9,241).

Quito is the city most affected by covid-19 in Ecuador, with 159,007 accumulated infections, 67 new cases in the last day; followed by Guayaquil with 45,944, 5 more than the day before.

Ecuador launched last January 21 a national vaccination plan against covid-19, a period in which it has received more than 10 million doses from different international pharmaceutical companies, according to the Ministry of Health.

The Government of President Guillermo Lasso aims to have nine million people, 60% of the population, immunized by the last week of August.

In addition, the government has decreed a state of emergency in the coastal province of El Oro and in the port city of Guayaquil, due to the confirmed presence of the delta variant and the delta plus subvariant of SARS-CoV-2, classified as highly transmissible.

The measure, which will be in force until July 28th, will allow to increase the “health security guarantees in view of the real and potential effects generated by the new variants”, indicated the Presidency of the Republic.

These variants, according to the source, are particularly characterized by being between 30% and 60% more transmissible than others, and their transmission speed is between two and three times higher than the primary virus.

The state of exception in the province of El Oro also implies a curfew from Monday to Thursday from 8:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m.; while on Friday, Saturday and Sunday the measure will start two hours earlier, that is, from 6:00 p.m..

In addition, permits for the progressive return to educational facilities will be suspended, since distance education will be maintained, and teleworking will be mandatory for the public and private sector.