Uruguay extends suspension until April 9th of in-person classes “at all education levels”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – The government of the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, announced on Tuesday the extension of the suspension of in-person classes in public and private educational centers until April 9th, due to the worrying surge of Covid-19 cases in the nation and the region.

“Given the health situation in the country, the Ministry of Education and Culture, the National Administration of Public Education and the Institute of the Child and Adolescent of Uruguay, in consultation with the Ministry of Public Health and within the framework of the provisions of Articles 3 and 4 of Decree No. 90/2021, of March 23rd, 2021, announce that the suspension of in-person classes, at all levels of public and private educational centers throughout the country, including Child and Family Care Centers (CAIF), youth centers and children’s clubs, as well as private early childhood centers, is extended until Friday, April 9th, 2021,” said the official statement released on social networks and by the local press.

On March 17th, Lacalle Pou had ordered the suspension of the compulsory nature of all in-person classes. And a week later, he ordered that all schools return to operating online as part of the strategy to mitigate the spread of Covid-19 in the country and that this methodology should initially be in force until April 4th.

On the other hand, Uruguay on Tuesday surpassed 600,000 people immunized against  Covid-19, which represents 17% of the population, the vast majority of these with the first dose of the Chinese vaccine CoronaVac or the American Pfizer and a small group with the second dose of the Asian laboratory Sinovac vaccine.

The website Our World in Data shows the number of vaccines administered in each country per 100 people. In Uruguay, with 0.88, the South American country is second behind the United Arab Emirates (1.1) and ahead of Chile (0.86), the United States (0.82), and the United Kingdom (0.81).

So far, Uruguay has acquired 3.8 million doses of Sinovac and Pfizer, of which 1.9 million are now in the country. Also, it was registered in the Covax platform, under the umbrella of the World Health Organization (WHO), through which 450,000 doses from AstraZeneca should be delivered in May. Subsequently, the Government finalized the acquisition of 1.25 million more doses from the Chinese laboratory, which are expected to arrive in May.

Uruguay started its vaccination plan with CoronaVac on March 1st when it established priority groups (teachers, police, military, and workers of the Institute for Children and Adolescents). Due to lower demand than expected, the surplus doses were reallocated to the border with Brazil and the prison population.

Additionall, vaccination was made available for the remainder of the population aged between 18 and 70, including the President of Uruguay, Luis Lacalle Pou, who received the first dose of CoronaVac on Monday.

On March 12th, inoculation of healthcare personnel began with Pfizer, a vaccine administered in senior homes and people over 80 years of age.

Since the pandemic began on March 13th, 2020, Uruguay has accumulated 99,584 positive cases (19,246 people currently suffering from the disease, 306 are in intensive care) and 928 deaths.

Source: Infobae