Bolivia has announced a nationwide, 14-day “total quarantine” starting Sunday, according to Bolivian state media agency ABI.
The country’s interim president, Jeanine Áñez, said Bolivians should “be at home 24 hours a day” and that only one person per family can leave at a time to go shopping. Public and private transport will be suspended.
Still operating: Pharmacies, hospitals and health centers will remain open as normal, she said. Permits will be given to employees in sectors that remain open.
Questions over election: On Saturday, the Bolivian electoral tribunal issued a notice on its website saying that the quarantine order impedes the body from carrying out preparatory activities ahead of May 3 elections.
The tribunal said that political groups and authorities should work together to decide on a “new date” that takes into account “scientific evaluations based on serious estimates about the probably evolution of the pandemic.”
An interim government has ruled Bolivia since former President Evo Morales fled the country following allegations of fraud in an October vote that would have given him a fourth term in office. Morales has said he was the victim of a coup.
