BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina’s President Alberto Fernandez said on Sunday that the country would extend a mandatory nationwide quarantine period until the middle of April in a bid to slow the spread of a coronavirus that has killed over 30,000 people worldwide.
The quarantine, which restricts non-essential workers from leaving their homes apart from to buy groceries or medicines, has seen the South American country’s streets virtually emptied, while its major grains industry has faced some disruption.
The quarantine was initially until the end of March. It will now be in place until the end of the Easter Holy Week, Fernandez said, which would mean it would be lifted on April 12.
(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin and Adam Jourdan)
