As health emergency ends, Ecuador’s Ministry of Health warns of a rebound of Covid cases

Ecuador’s health ministry says residents should not let down their guard against the coronavirus pandemic. “Because the official state of emergency has ended does not mean the health crisis is over,” says Xavier Solórzano, vice health minister.

“It is true that the situation has improved or has stabilized in most of the country but this can change quickly if people relax efforts to contain the virus,” he said. “The pandemic continues its course, spreading through the population, but we can control the rate of spread by our actions. If we are careless, we will see spikes in cases and more deaths.”

Solórzano believes it is inevitable that numbers will grow in the coming weeks and urges local governments to maintain the necessary measures for containment. “We cannot continue in a state of emergency and we must revitalize the economy and return as much as possible to a condition of normalcy,” he said. “This is a disease we must learn to live with.”

Among the areas of major concern, Solórzano said, is maintaining social distancing in public transit and continuing to prohibit large gatherings.

He also cited comments by the director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control Robert Redfield that wearing a face mask may provide greater protection against Covid-19 than a vaccine. “The experts are coming into agreement that a vaccine will not provide the total solution we once thought it would,” Solórzan said. “From recent reports, we also know that a vaccine is many months, maybe years, away from being available to the world’s population. In the meantime, we must continue biosecurity measrues, such as wearing face masks and social distancing that we know are effective.”