John Hopkins COVID-19 Interactive Mapp Photo Credit: JOHN HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Puerto Rico Governor Wanda Vázquez during a national address on Sunday declared a curfew through March 30 that calls for non-essential businesses to be closed and residents off the streets by 9:00 p.m. every night until 5:00 a.m. the following day. Just Thursday, the governor declared a state of emergency, which gives her broad powers to take immediate action to safeguard her people against the virulent coronavirus.
Puerto Rico has confirmed four cases as of Sunday with about a dozen suspected cases awaiting test results. As of Sunday morning the disease had infected 156,400 and killed 5,833.
“If we don’t act now with determinations and force, the consequences tomorrow will be even worse,” Ms. Vázquez said during the national address.
On Sunday Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases — the federal government’s leading voice on infectious diseases — said Americans must do more to prevent community spread of the coronavirus. He urged Americans to stay home and avoid unnecessary public outings, according to the Wall Street Journal.
“Americans should be prepared that they are going to have to hunker down significantly more than we as a country are doing,” Dr. Fauci said on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
He also warned that younger Americans aren’t immune from the virus and some could fall seriously ill.
“Everybody’s got to take this seriously, even the young,” he said.
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