Havana, April 3 (RHC)-- The Provincial Defense Council of Havana decided to quarantine the Popular Council El Carmelo, Vedado in the Plaza Municipality on Thursday, at a meeting headed by its president, Luis Antonio Torres Iríbar, and its vice-president Reinaldo García Zapata.

According to this decision, as of this Friday, April 3, at 8:00 p.m. the measure will go into effect. 

The district, which covers from 6th to 28th Street, and from 21st Street to Malecón Avenue, has the highest number of people infected through contacts with foreigners and with Cubans who came from abroad totaling 8 COVID-19 positive patients.

The necessary resources will be guaranteed for the population living in the area in isolation. Besides, provision has been made for the care of vulnerable persons, who will be aided by social workers from the district.

Transit will be limited in the territory, and safe-conducts will be issued only to residents who are essential outside this council and who must undergo a COVID-19 test.

No bus will be allowed to pass through the council, which will have four to six entrances and exits.

This is the second Popular Council to be quarantined in Cuba. The first was the Camilo Cienfuegos Council in the Consolacion del Sur municipality in the westernmost province of Pinar del Rio.

Torres Iríbar emphasized that each municipality must act following its availability of resources, which it will manage rationally. 

The Communist Party leader and president of the Provincial Defense Council of Havana said that the  Prosecutor's Office requested the arrest, in  La Lisa municipality of people for gauging prices of products intended for the feeding of vulnerable, older adults, who are covered by the Family Attention System (SAF).

Referring to the establishments that still sell liquor, Torres Iríbar pointed out that all this goes against orientation,and their immediate closure was approved.

He called for strict compliance with the government's instructions and maintaining social isolation as the primary measure to prevent the spread of the SARS-COV-2 virus.