CARACAS/MARACAIBO, Venezuela (Reuters) – Venezuela will implement a nationwide quarantine after detecting 16 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Monday, President Nicolas Maduro said, adding that the total number of cases in the South American country had risen to 33.
People traveling in a truck wear protective masks as they pass through a checkpoint after the start of quarantine in response to the spreading of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Caracas, Venezuela, March 16, 2020. REUTERS/Manaure Quintero
The country began a quarantine on Monday in a handful of regions, but many across the country went out anyway, saying they could not afford to stay indoors or skip work as the once-prosperous OPEC nation suffers an economic collapse marked by shortages of basic goods and a collapse in public services.
In a state television address on Monday evening, Maduro said that the quarantine had been successful so far, but that more drastic measures were necessary. That came as governments across Latin America, which until recently had been less affected by the virus, took more drastic measures.
“The real crisis… is just starting,” Maduro said, calling the nationwide quarantine “necessary” and “indispensable.”
But earlier on Monday, Jose Luis Nieves, a 32-year-old foraging for food in a garbage dump by Caracas’ Plaza Venezuela, sai