Less than a week after he was appointed governor on the property, Pedro Pierluisi Urrutia amended today, Tuesday, the current executive order to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, with measures such as relaxing the nest and opening the beaches.
During a press conference in La Fortaleza, the executive announced that it has changed the start of the lowering heel, which will now be in force from 23:00 to 5:00 am. the commercial closing on Sunday is eliminated.
In turn, the governor also allowed the opening of beaches, spas, marinas and communal areas for recreational activities, but without alcohol and with the practice of social distance.
The measure will enter into force starting this Friday, January 8th.
When asked by the press, the governor clarified that he used the recommendations of the Scientific Coalition, created by Pierluisi Urrutia after his election victory, which recommended that not many changes be made to the Order, given that they still do not have enough data to show more control. high with infections.
“You don’t have to be an expert … know that the vast majority of our people, when they go shopping, do it on Saturday or Sunday,” the president said during the news conference.
“If you only give it one day, what will happen the next? It will be full,” he argued.
In this way, beyond the changes he announced, any restrictive measures will continue to be imposed, such as the closure of bars, discos and hammocks that, according to the governor, will not see changes until further notice.
“The only changes are the ones I said. Nothing has changed in terms of gyms, nothing has changed in terms of bars, nothing has changed in terms of the hammocks themselves,” he clarified. .
However, companies can operate with a capacity of 30%, as long as they comply with the physical distance protocol and, if they cannot comply, the business will have to reduce its capacity.
“The idea here is not that we believe that the solution to the pandemic is the Executive Order and the restrictions. This is practically one of the strategies,” Pierluisi Urrutia stressed at the end of the announcement.
“We need to have vaccines and get them to all of Puerto Rico, especially vulnerable populations. We need to have a massive media campaign, because we can all do our part,” he added.
Order the tax incentive program
As part of a series of initiatives contained in the Executive Order, the Governor ordered the Secretary of the Treasury Department, Francisco Parés Alicea, to develop a program of economic incentives to mitigate losses in the commercial sector.
The program should develop the plan in about ten days, Pierluisi anticipated.
“The Secretary of the Treasury has 10 days to come up with an incentive program, using the surplus funds from the ‘CARES Law’,” he explained.