TEGUCIGALPA, HONDURAS.- UK live directly what Wuhan, China, suffered in December due to the covid-19 pandemic. The only difference is that England is the victim of a new strain of the disease, which has led them to take further action.
London, the capital of that nation, is like Wuhan in England, the city that became the epicenter of the new variant of coronavirus, which has thousands of people in danger, including several Hondurans.
In accordance with Ivan Romero Martinez, Honduran ambassador to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, at least a thousand compatriots live there, but more than half (about 600) are in London.
One of them is Harold Isaac Borjas Vasquez, a young Honduran-Spanish, who recently arrived in London with the idea of expanding his job opportunities, but who with the new strain is in a mandatory quarantine.
In dialogue with beadle, compatriot, born in San Lorenzo, Valle, in southern Honduras, said he arrived in the city on December 21, but after completing a form and checking his immigration, he had to go directly to the place where he has to spend 10 days practically closed.
He decided to go to a shelter, where he has been in that nation for four days. Quarantine is absolute. The person entering should not leave for anything. Basic purchases (food, medicine, etc.) must be made by third parties.
“I can’t go out now, but they say everything is wrong here because of the mutation that the coronavirus had. I haven’t felt much change on the street, I don’t know how it was before, but I’m talking in the sense that the government is not taking action with the citizens, “he said, referring to what he also experienced in Spain, his second homeland. .
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Harold said that in England, especially in London, there are many people who do not wear a mask, a mandatory measure in southern European countries and other parts of the world.
Into the UK It is mandatory only indoors, shopping malls or public transport. What happens is that mobility is reduced, meaning few people walk the streets.
Said Ángela Cruz, another compatriot living in the United Kingdom beadle that only “core” enterprises are open.
The Honduran lives in Eastbourne, a town two hours from the main town. “The situation is somewhat critical because of the new strain that exists, but in places like this we can not go to the capital, which is London; they closed those roads, “he said.
“In my job I am worried about infecting gentlemen. I also work on cleaning hotels and there are almost no customers in the rooms. Security measures are extreme, no food is served in hotels,” he said.
measure
When the new strain was announced in England, Prime Minister Boris Johnson spoke of a stricter blockade and reduction of residents’ gatherings, especially during the Christmas holidays. He also mentioned the closure of “non-essential” companies (barbershops, gyms, etc.).
The contagion with the new variant is 70% higher, which has forced more than twenty countries to restrict flights from the United Kingdom.
According to the international press, this strain was discovered in September, but by November – when a quarter of cases in London were due to this new variant – the alerts increased. By December, the number of cases had risen by almost two-thirds.
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There are currently 2.2 million infected people in the UK and almost 70,000 deaths, according to the Worldometers website, which does not specify how many were infected with the new strain. The local press mentions that until December 19, there were over 20,000.
The measures in that nation were called into question and labeled “lazy”, since the prime minister proposed “collective immunization” at the time, but was then forced to back down when Imperial College London University presented a mathematical model that visualized the increase in deaths caused by the disease.
Are Hondurans infected?
Last Monday, the ambassador Honduras in the United Kingdom He assured that they have no records of compatriots infected with the new strain.
In dialogue with HRN, the diplomat suggested that Hondurans be in constant communication with them. “The embassy’s phones and e-mails are available and, above all, we are following the evolution of each of them,” he said.
He also said that Hondurans living in London They comply with biosecurity measures to prevent infection.
“Today we are talking about a ghost London, practically. 90 percent are paralyzed, food and emergency shops are difficult to open, “he described.
Romero Martinez expressed concern about the new strain as it is 70% more contagious than the virus discovered in Wuhan, China, at the end of December 2019, but warned that research is still being done on the variant that keeps people at the limit . Honduras.