LIMA (HPD) — Peru announced on Wednesday the end of all restrictions to curb the spread of COVID-19, which failed to prevent the pandemic from spreading and leaving thousands dead in the country.
The office of Prime Minister Aníbal Torres published on social networks that, after the weekly meeting of ministers, it was agreed to “lift the state of emergency due to COVID-19, thanks to the progress of vaccination and the decrease in cases.”
According to data from the Ministry of Health, in Peru there are 26.8 million vaccinated with one dose, 25.7 million with two doses, 20.8 million with three doses and 5.3 million with four doses. The country of 33 million inhabitants suffered more than 216,000 deaths from COVID-19.
Last week, the government discharged the last patient hospitalized for COVID-19 in a complex of seven towers of up to 20 floors in the southern area of Lima, where at one point more than 2,700 beds were installed for patients with this disease. ailment because hospitals were overwhelmed.
The government made its announcement a few days before the festival of the dead, which in Peru is celebrated on November 1. Before the pandemic began, cemeteries used to be filled with visitors who celebrated and danced by the graves of their loved ones on that date. In 2020 and 2021 the cemeteries were closed, guarded by armed soldiers.
Food markets and banks no longer require the use of masks, nor do they spray alcohol on hands. A month ago the government indicated that the use of these would be optional in both open and closed places.
In schools and on public transport it is still possible to see some users wearing masks, but many people stopped wearing them even during waves of infections and only covered their faces when the authorities required it.