27 de agosto 2020
AA
“Pure adrenaline in the motorcycle race in Diriamba,” an official media outlet repeated, time and time again, to promote a massive activity that took place on July 12th in this city of the department of Carazo. Health specialists have warned that these events are, in fact, “pure recklessness”, considering that they represent a risk of a second Covid-19 outbreak.
The event aimed to “avoid illegal races and prevent traffic accidents”, and was promoted by the Mayor of Diriamba, the Alexis Argüello Sports Movement (Movimiento Deportivo Alexis Argüello), and the Nicaraguan Motorcycle Federation (Fenimoto).
That same day, a similar activity was organized in Ciudad Sandino (Managua) against all social distancing recommendations to stop the spread of the pandemic. Infectologist Carlos Quant warns that these events are likely to generate a second Covid-19 outbreak.
“These massive activities and this apparent normality, which is being experienced and promoted in Nicaragua, has caused public mobility to increase, which means we can expect a new outbreak of virus infection”, he says.
Political marches, patron saint festivities parallel to those that have been canceled by the catholic church, caravans, fairs, concerts, contests, puppet shows, and sports championships, are some of the activities that are being promoted by the government since the start of the pandemic and since the first positive case of coronavirus was identified on the 18th of March.
At least 919 activities were promoted by public institutions between March 18 and August 9, of which only 36% were related to the prevention and management of Covid-19, according to a report from the Nicaraguan Foundation for Economic Social Development (Funides).
Why is there a risk of a second Covid-19 outbreak?
Quant explains that the time that elapses between exposure to Covid-19 and the moment in which the symptoms appear, tends to be around five to six days, but can vary up to 14 days.
“The first massive infections can be expected two weeks after being in contact with the virus, but at the same time those people are infecting others, which can cause another outbreak among a third infected group four to six weeks later,” he says.
The massive activities, the abandonment of self-quarantine, and the relaxation of safety measures could generate, “as has occurred in many countries”, a second Covid-19 outbreak of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus in Nicaragua.
“However, doctors are better prepared and have more knowledge of the virus. There might be a lesser impact (of the pandemic), and it might not cause the collapse of hospitals as occurred in late May and early June,” he said.
Mobility increases
The organization of massive activities that promote agglomerations has increased since July, which has led more people to abandon the restrictions they were taking, as evidenced by Google’s mobility reports, which reveal an increase in traffic mainly from Friday to Saturday.
“We have more than 3,100 activities that we take great care of, family economy fairs, traditional festivities; also tourism, which has been growing with the possibility to visit different, beautiful and lovely places of our Nicaragua”, vice president Rosario Murillo said on August 14, referring to the activities that took place over the weekend.
Every week, the government continues to promote these types of activities, “sending the message that it seems that the pandemic is controlled or about to disappear from the country, which is far from the truth because the virus is still present and has expanded to rural and indigenous communities where contagions are not always reported,” warns Quant.
These are five events that could cause a second Covid-19 outbreak
1. Motorcycle races
In the photographs of the race that was held in Diriamba, a great number of citizens are seen along the streets that connect the Basilica of San Sebastian and the city's clock, without taking any social distancing precautions before, during and after the competition. Very few citizens wore face masks.
“We are going to continue to promote sports. We take preventative measures into consideration, but healthy recreation and road safety on our streets are also important,” declared a political secretary of the Sandinista Front (FSLN) in Diriamba.
2. Parallel festivities of Santo Domingo
Hundreds of people challenged the Catholic Church and the pandemic by holding a party in substitution of the popular celebration in honor of Santo Domingo de Guzman, which was suspended to prevent the spread of Covid-19.
To the sound of the philharmonic music and with a replica of Santo Domingo de Guzmán, which is not recognized by the priests, hundreds of people departed from the community of Las Sierritas, on the outskirts of Managua, to cover the annual route of approximately 10 kilometers that leads to the old center of the capital, as it is traditionally done by Catholics on the first of August. The same happened on August 10.
3. July 19 Caravans
Public sector workers in Nicaragua were forced to mobilize throughout the country between July 16 and 19, despite the covid-19 pandemic, following orders of the vice president and official spokesperson Rosario Murillo, to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the Sandinista Revolution, which initially canceled the ceremony at the Revolution Square (Plaza de la Revolución) and instead held a private ceremony with the presence of Daniel Ortega.
4. Baseball League Final
The Nicaraguan Superior Baseball Commission (CNBS) disregarded the medical recommendations by allowing the entry of more than 10,000 fans to the Dennis Martínez National Stadium for the final of the National Championship on August 14.
For the majority of the six games in the final series, people attended without keeping their distance from one another and many did not wear masks.
5. Festivities in Granada and Juigalpa
In the colonial city of Granada, hundreds of people participated in a local parade called “Tope de Toros” on August 14, organized by the Mayor’s Office, in celebration of the Virgin of Assumption festivities. Activities were held for the patron saint festivals in Jinotega as well.
“It is unfortunate to see videos of Granada and Juigalpa in which the authorities promoted the patron saint celebrations without caring about the health of the population. Seeing agglomerations without any type of protection is absolutely irresponsible”, the president of the Superior Council of Private Enterprise (Cosep), José Adán Aguerri wrote on Twitter.
This article has been translated by Ana Maria Sampson, a Communication Science student at the University of Amsterdam and member of our staff*
