Last week, adding to previous restrictions, Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced announced a lockdown in the country through 11 September. Under the new rules, there is a mandatory 24-hour lockdown on Sundays. Puerto Ricans only will be allowed to leave their homes for grocery shopping or going to hospitals and pharmacies. Beaches remain closed and houses of worship will be limited to 25 percent capacity.
Anyone not wearing a mask outside faces a $100 fine. A night curfew remains in force.
TRENDPOST: It should be noted that Puerto Rico, with a population of 3,387,000, has the grand total of 390 virus deaths since the outbreak in March.
Yet, new draconian lockdown laws will now put more downward pressure on the economy and hardship among its population.
Long before the COVID War was launched, Puerto Rico was facing severe economic hardship. Already choking in debt, some $43 billion was drained from its economy after hurricane Maria hit in 2017, which killed over 3,000 people.
According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, 77 percent of small businesses got hit financially and up to 8,000 businesses permanently closed. To date, some 44.5 percent of Puerto Ricans are living below the poverty line.
As for tourism, which was a growing revenue stream, “Covid will likely have three times the impact on the local tourism industry than Hurricane Maria,” said Brad Dean, the CEO of Discover Puerto Rico.
Air traffic is down 62 percent versus a year ago and hotel occupancy is down some 75 percent. “During the first week of August, we welcomed 32,000 passengers, which is just a fraction of what we would be seeing this time of year,” Dean said.
