On March 20th at midnight, the President of Argentina, Alberto Fernandez, ordered the unprecedented shutdown of the entire nation including international borders and domestic flights. That Friday the 20th and that Saturday, large numbers of citizens packed up their cars and headed to Mar del Plata and Pinamar, both resort towns that are the center of weekend vacations by Porteños (those who live in Buenos Aires). Once the news and social media started reporting that large amounts of people were headed to these beach towns, the local authorities of these beach towns blocked entry into their communities. The standoff between beach goers and town officials grew heated and ultimately drew the attention of the President who took to making another national address. He immediately announced that he was signing a decree making staying at home mandatory since some people didn’t get the message. In his address to the nation he let everyone know that the decree is law and that it falls under a public health emergency within the parameters of the democratic Republic. He made clear it is not martial law but a law that protects the health of all Argentine citizens and prohibits people from leaving their homes except to buy food, go the pharmacy and hardware stores. The period of this mandatory quarantine or aislamiento social preventivo y obligatorio would last until March 31st.
Read the rest of the story on Medium here, Lockdown in Argentina: The Wait.