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Updated March 2nd, 2021 at 11:12 IST

Peru reopens after month-long quarantine

Last year, Peruvians experienced a 106-day lockdown that caused a collapse in the economy. Vendor Fabiola Benitez said that the past year has been the worst in her 15 years as a merchant.

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Peru reopened its businesses on Monday, including its archaeological icons such as the Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, amid a second wave of infections from the coronavirus. The reopening is taking place after a month-long lockdown. The end of the quarantine is being criticized by experts who claim that the relaxation of restrictions has come too early.

Currently, some 6,000 people are getting infected every day, according to local authorities. Peru has reported more than 1.3 million cases of coronavirus and 46,494 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University. But the country's president Francisco Sagasti has said that people need the economy to reopen in order to survive, underlining the need to "find a perfect balance between health and economics."

Last year, Peruvians experienced a 106-day lockdown that caused a collapse in the economy. Vendor Fabiola Benitez said that the past year has been the worst in her 15 years as a merchant. The end of the restrictions also brought to the streets more than a thousand casino and slot machine workers who are protesting because they haven't been able to return to their jobs.

These businesses, which have been closed for a year, as well as discos, are not authorized to reopen. Others traders like Heydi Loa were forced to find jobs in the informal market. The economics university student said she became a street vendor because she needed to have money to pay for her studies. The company where she worked in telecommunications shut down. "Behind every person is a story, a very difficult story," she said.

(Image Credit: AP) 

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Published March 2nd, 2021 at 11:12 IST

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