Havana, February 5 (RHC) -- Starting this Friday, Havana is adopting a nighttime lockdown restricting peoples and vehicles' mobility.  The measure seeks to prevent the further spread of the new coronavirus.

According to the Havana Provincial Defense Council, no one will be allowed to circulate without authorization from 9:00 p.m. local time until 5:00 a.m. the following day.

The decision also contemplates restricting entry into the city from other provinces, and authorities will implement an access permits mechanism. Violators of this measure will be fined two thousand pesos. (one dollar is equivalent to 24 pesos, in the official exchange rate).

People registered in other provinces who reside in the capital will carry a special card, and authorities will facilitate the entry of those who receive medical treatment in this city.

Among the prevention and control measures, the vice-president of the defense council, Reinaldo García, indicated speeding up the delivery of PCR test results to accelerate discharges and ensure greater hospital availability.

Authorities in Havana emphasized that individual and collective responsibility is the primary tool to stop a resurgence of Covid-19 -a disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus-, with record numbers in the capital since the beginning of the pandemic last March.