The Ecuadorian health authorities have reintroduced the mandatory use of masks in closed spaces as a response to the increase in coronavirus infections and the rise in cases of other diseases, such as the flu.
The Emergency Operations Committee (COE) has held a new meeting after more than a month of inactivity to agree on the return of the masks, as reported by the Ecuadorian newspaper ‘El Comercio’.
Ecuador has registered an increase in coronavirus infections in recent weeks, following the trend of other South American nations such as Peru –which confirmed the start of a fifth wave in the country–, or Colombia –which also decreed the return of masks–.
The rise in coronavirus infections, along with the return of other virus infections typical of the winter months –such as the flu– have motivated the COE to take this step.
The president of Ecuador, Guillermo Lasso, confirmed the end of the mandatory use of masks at the end of April, when he stated that the coronavirus pandemic was controlled in the country thanks to the high vaccination figures.
The Ecuadorian health authorities have recorded more than one million infections since the outbreak of the pandemic, and in recent days more than 4,000 infections have been registered again in just one day.
