As the number of cases of coronavirus in Chile continues to rise, the government has increasingly been taking precautions to try to keep the disease from spreading to more vulnerable areas. These measures include various circulation restrictions including “sanitary checkpoints” at border crossings between different regions. Many complain this isn’t doing enough and are taking matters into their own hands.
Over 59% of the current coronavirus cases in the country are centered in the Metropolitan Region. Because of this, the government is trying to keep the disease from spreading to other regions. Some of these measures include “sanitary checkpoints” and placing islands and archipelagos in quarantine.
Beach town residents are taking the law into their own hands, claiming that the government is not doing enough to stop the spread of the virus. Most of these areas don’t have the same resources to combat the disease, making a quarantine their best chance to fight it. Joining them are Easter Island and the island of Chiloé.
Beach Towns On Alert
Many beach towns are on high alert after people from the capital decided that they wanted to spend their quarantine time in their beach homes. This inevitably infected the beach towns with the virus and put at risk the small amount of medical resources that they had.
In response, towns like Papudo and Zapallar have closed their beaches, to prevent people from gathering there and to dissuade people from even coming to the town.
Even some politicians like Congressman Osvaldo Urrutia are not following the government’s coronavirus orders. Urrutia was recently surprised at the beach in Reñaca by the Chilevision film crew.
Most everyone’s quarantine vacation came to an end when the government announced new measures to fight the pandemic. These include forcing people to go to their primary domicile. Local residents also shut out would-be vacationers by setting up barricades and bonfires on the highways leading into their towns.
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Chiloé
The archipelago of Chiloé was placed under quarantine, the points of entry were reduced to five and all five are transformed into sanitary checkpoints. People who are not residents of the islands are prohibited from entering unless they are members of the armed forces or delivering necessities to the island, like food or medical supplies.
Most of the residents of the island are worried that these measures still won’t be enough, and have attempted to completely barricade the entrances to the island. On Mar. 24, residents attempted to block the main road to the island, an effort that was disrupted by the Carabineros (Chile’s national police force) and the armed forces. Authorities took down the barricades and detained two people.
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Easter Island
Easter Island (Rapa Nui) Mayor Pedro Edmunds said, “I’m surprised at [Minister of Health] Mañalich’s instructions, they’re always late.” This was in response to the government’s announcement that it was placing the island under quarantine for 14 days, forcing nearly 1,000 tourists to leave the island. He also clarified that he was not going to allow anyone to enter the island for three months just to be sure and that he wants to shut down the airport, not even allowing natives of the island to return.
When the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on the island, Mayor Edmunds lamented, “We are better equipped to build coffins than treat patients.” On the entire island there are only three mechanical respirators and two ICU beds for over 12,000 inhabitants. They are also further limited to the extent that they can’t test for the virus on the island and must send the samples back to the mainland for the results.
The Mayor is therefore asking the government for a 24-hour curfew and to bring in doctors who will be able to assist with the pandemic.
Diego Rivera is currently a senior in University, finishing up his audiovisual degree. You can find him on Twitter as @Piover45.