Coronavirus: Venezuela puts citizens of seven states, including millions in Caracas, in quarantine

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro ordered on Sunday a “collective quarantine” in seven states, including the capital Caracas, from Monday to stem the spread of the new coronavirus pandemic.

All activities in the seven states are to be suspended from 5am on Monday, except food distribution, health services, transport and security, Maduro said in a television address to his crisis-devastated nation where the economy had already collapsed long before the pandemic struck.

“It’s not a collective vacation, no. It’s a collective quarantine that deserves great social discipline, great self-control,” said Maduro, adding that it meant people should stay “at home.”

Caracas alone is home to six million people.

This latest measure to combat the global pandemic comes after Maduro previously banned flights to and from Europe, Colombia, Panama and the Dominican Republic, as well as a suspending school and university classes, and sports events.