Venezuela extends lockdown till May 13 amid coronavirus pandemic

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro recently announced that the national 'state of alarm' due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic would be extended further for a period of 30 days. Speaking to the country's state-run media, Maduro said that on April 11, he signed the state of alarm for 30 more days for Venezuela. He then went on to say that although Venezuela has confined the contagion, still they couldn't "sing victory". 

The Latin American nation first announced a nationwide lockdown on March 13 following which quarantine was announced for all its citizens. According to reports, Venezuela's current state of lockdown was scheduled to end on April 13. However, the new announcement has dragged it till May 13. Venezuela has reported comparatively fewer cases as compared to other Latin American countries with 175 positive cases and nine deaths. Meanwhile, Brazil emerged as the worst affected nations with 20,964 cases and 1,141 deaths. 

Read: As Coronavirus Spreads, Some Venezuelans Opt To Return Home

Read: COVID-19: Colombian President Calls For Solidarity With Venezuelan Migrants

Venezuelans return home 

Earlier this week, nearly 600 Venezuelans migrant workers returned to their country through a humanitarian corridor as Columbia continued its lockdown. Colombian President Ivan Duque Marquez during a Facebook live session on April 5 appealed to his fellow citizens for solidarity and support for more than a million Venezuelan migrants currently present in the country. Ever since the preventive lockdown has been imposed in Colombia, the Venezuelan migrants who had left their country to avoid economic crises have found themselves stuck in the midst of a health crisis without any proper source of income. 

Ivan Duque said that Colombia will help the Venezuelan migrants despite the difficulties caused by the coronavirus outbreak. Ivan said that the government will continue to support more than 1.7 million displaced Venezuelan migrants with food aid and protection programs. According to reports, more than 600 Venezuelan migrants arrived at the Colombian border on April 4, where they were received by the immigration officials. The migrant crisis in Colombia peaked when the Venezuelan government in July 2016 opened its border to allow migrants to cross the border due to shortages and other economical difficulties. 

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Read: Some Venezuelans Return Home As Virus Spread

(Image credit: AP)