Photography: Google File / Alert Nayarit. 

Translated by google

José Reyes Burgos
Puerto Vallarta

The governor of Nayarit, Antonio Echevarría, has decided to go further with the measures for the health contingency, and announced that a forced quarantine is imposed throughout the state, under threat of arrest for those who do not comply with this new indication.

In a video uploaded to his Facebook, he indicated a series of measures to be taken by his government in the context of the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, but among these actions is the forced quarantine.

“We are going to have a strong hand, a firm hand (…) in the next two weeks that follow, we will not allow people on the street who are not justified. Whoever walks without valid reason, will be accompanied by the security authority to his home. And listen well: and if they resist, they will take you to the cells, ”he said in a video uploaded to his Facebook account.

He also pointed out that if the law has to be modified to make these arrests possible, it will be done, because “it is about saving lives.”

Likewise, people who are found throwing parties will have a 72-hour arrest.

These measures are announced after the government of Nayarit first announced a “Hoy no circula” program similar to the one in Mexico City, in order to reduce the movement of people by car and thus discourage people from leaving.

However, as the measure was unpopular, the governor backed down and decided to reverse this project. “I am a governor who listens, and we were wrong,” he acknowledged.

“We are not going to carry it out (it does not circulate), they are decisions that we sometimes make to save lives in this case. (…) Although in this law we were wrong because we believed that it would work, because what we want is that people do not walk on the street, not cars. And here what is asked is responsibility ”, said the president.

Currently, there are 33 cases of COVID-19 in Nayarit with 5 deaths.