By NewsDesk  @infectiousdiseasenews

In a follow-up on the COVID-19 situation in Venezuela, as of April 10, 175 cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed by authorities in Caracas and 21 states in the country, and nine deaths have been reported.

Image/Robert Herriman

The Venezuelan government instituted the following preventive measures to contain the transmission:

  • Preventive social quarantine in the national territory as of March 17, with entrances and exits between states closed, except for the food distribution chain, health and health services, police and military security, transport, electricity, gas , fuel, solid waste and telecommunications.
  • Suspension of all work activities with the exception of social service and urgently needed activities (food distribution, health, safety, security, and transportation services).
  • Suspension of educational activities at all levels from Monday March 16.
  • Suspension of commercial and private flights from Europe, Colombia, the Dominican Republic and Panama from March 15 and for 30 days, and domestic flights – with the exception of cargo and mail flights.
  • Mandatory use of face masks in public transportation such as the subway and railways and since March 22, in all public spaces.
  • Establishment of 46 hospitals and sentinel centers in all states and collaboration with Member States, such as China, Russia and Cuba, which includes the provision of supplies and medicines; technical cooperation and support with human resources. As of April 1, this includes 23,000 hospital beds and 1,200 Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, prepared for COVID-19 cases and 52,000 PCR tests and one million rapid tests.
  • Launch of a health survey through the Patria System to strengthen epidemiological surveillance of COVID-19. As of April 6, it was reported that 17,202,618 people have responded to the survey, which has prioritized the deployment of 14,000 workers to perform screenings that have visited 98,269 people – as of March 31, 54,248 screenings had been carried out. This tool seeks to track the evolution of the outbreak in the country, to adapt the response.
  • Communication campaign to send key information to the population about preventive measures, virus evolution and necessary actions of the population to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

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