Former Governor Wanda Vázquez Garced said in a radio interview on Monday that her decision a year ago to cut operations in Puerto Rico and issue a curfew to control Covid-19 contamination on the island was correct and compared it. with a mother who takes care of her children.
In a morning radio interview with Normando Valentín on Notiuno 630, the former governor said that “the decisions were very difficult, complicated. As you all know, we were always very aware of what was happening in the rest of the world. Although it mainly starts in the area of Europe. We saw the cases (of Covid-19) in Italy, in Spain, in France. So despite the fact that it had not yet reached Puerto Rico, we were very aware of the development of the pandemic around the world. When we saw the situations as they were in New York, they were concerned, ”Vázquez Garced said of the state of the United States, where there was a high rate of infections and deaths at the start of the pandemic.
“Once we had the first positive cases in Puerto Rico, it was enough for me to make the most difficult decision, but it was aimed at saving my life. Even if we have the first five positives (cases of Covid-19), they were the Italian (tourists), the Panamanian doctor who went to the Salsa Festival. It was too much for me because I knew or was concerned that there might be other infections outside that we had no control over. So at that point I have to say it was instinct. I’m going to close. I’m going to protect my island, the people. It is the only way to save lives, for people to protect themselves, to be detained and to stay in their homes, ”recalls Vázquez Garced.
So I made that decision while a mother is taking care of her children. Once we got those first five cases, I said, “I’m going to close.” It was difficult, because we are talking about all economic activity, to tell the citizens that you have to stay at home, that you cannot go out. This is also seen in other countries of the world. You never expected that to happen in Puerto Rico, ”the former governor recalls.
“But I am so grateful to the people in the city of Puerto Rico that the people cooperated. See those empty streets. People understood that there was danger in the street. And I emphasized time and again in all those executive orders, especially those of March and April, that you have to be at home. Because the Covid vaccine would be in the house at that point. We weren’t even hoping there would be a vaccine. So I understood that this was the way to protect the Puerto Rican people and fortunately today when we compare it with the rest of the world we see that it was a decision, with great humility I say it, correct, ”concluded Vázquez Garced.