VietJoy

Argentine President Alberto Fernández announced Friday that COVID-19 lockdown restrictions will be gradually lift starting Saturday.

Fernández spoke at an official event, accompanied by Axel Kicillof, governor of Buenos Aires province and Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, mayor of Buenos Aires.

"Between July 18 and August 2 we will be trying to return to normal life in this new world, in this different world that requires different care and we will do it gradually," he said.

Fernández warned, however, that the country had not yet won the battle against the coronavirus pandemic that has so far infected more than 110,000 people in Argentina and killed about 2,100.

Buenos Aires Mayor Horacio Rodríguez Larreta said that the situation in the Argentine capital was encouraging, adding that in the last 25 days the average number of infections remained stable between 900 and 1,000 per day.

"We are going to enable activities progressively,” he said. “In terms of work, we are going to reopen shops gradually starting with neighborhood business. We will also open some personal services such as hairdressing salons and some professional activities such as lawyers.”

Argentina's COVID-19 lockdown began on March 20 and has been one of the longest in the region.

Lifting the restrictions consists of a six-stage plan, the first of which will cover the next two weeks.

Meanwhile, schools remain closed and public transportation will continue to be available to essential workers in the food, safety, and health sectors.