Governor Pedro Pierluisi announced today at a press conference a new executive order to fight covid-19 that comes into effect on August 16.
According to Pierluisi, vaccination is the most solid method to fight against the coronavirus and that is why he has decided to expand the measures that were recently announced.
“Vaccination or negative test is required [de covid-19] weekly for all employees of health facilities ”, including hospitals, laboratories, health and therapy centers, blood banks and pharmacies, among others.
“This requirement extends to care centers for the elderly,” said the governor, who explained that the same exceptions will apply, such as religious objection or a medical condition that prevents vaccination.
Other sectors that must comply with this requirement are Puerto Rico government contractors who work in person or who frequently visit offices and premises.
On the other hand, all employees and guests of hotels, inns and lodges, including short-term rentals such as AirBnb, will be required to be vaccinated or to present the negative test every week.
The Secretary of Health, Carlos Mellado, recalled that the use of the mask is mandatory and that they will be with the Police monitoring that this requirement is met or fines of $ 100.00 will be issued to those who refuse to use them or of $ 500.00 when dealing with businesses that allow people to be in the open.
On the other hand, Mellado announced that regulation 138-A that establishes the conditions for obtaining health certificates on the island is being amended.
“As of today, anyone who requires a health certificate must be vaccinated against covid-19 to obtain it,” said Mellado.
The health certificate is needed by people who, for example, work in the health sector, food preparation, stylists, barbers and caregivers, among others.
“I would like to see that restaurants and bars require vaccination tests or negative tests because masks are not used there. I will be very vigilant and I reserve the right to take additional measures ”, such as restricting the capacity of these sites, said Pierluisi.
The island is experiencing a rebound in covid-19 cases that the authorities attribute to the entry of different variants of the virus, including the delta. They also attribute it to the lack of response of some people to the government’s call for vaccination.
In fact, Health reported this morning that the percentage of positivity is 11%. Likewise, the agency reached 76% of people eligible to be vaccinated with at least one dose. At the moment 235 people are hospitalized, of which 36 people are on a ventilator. The agency also reported five deaths from covid-19.
Yesterday in an interview with THE SPOKESMAN, Dented He anticipated that he would discuss with the governor the actions to be taken to stop the rebound.
“We are going to make the adjustments that we have to make,” said Mellado, without specifying the options that he would analyze with the chief executive at the meeting he hoped to have between yesterday and today.
“We are observing the hospitals. Of all hospitalizations, 20% are of people vaccinated (against covid-19), with their entire series of two vaccines and two weeks (if inoculated) and that certainly is in line with the statistics at the national level, which say that the delta variant reduces the effectiveness of the vaccine from 95% to 75%. Vaccinated patients who are becoming infected, the symptoms are lower, “he said.
The head of Health did not inform what would be the additional restrictions that he would support, but he spoke of “avoiding crowds, wearing the mask. We are visiting the places, giving fines, taking measures and we are evaluating. If it is more out of control, other measures will be taken to avoid more hospitalizations ”.
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