Friday, March 6: as the coronavirus epidemic accelerates in Europe, Uruguay, a small South American country of 3.5 million people, has not yet confirmed cases on its soil. Carmela H., fashion designer specializing in animal fur coats and jackets, returns from a two-week stay in Madrid.
As soon as she returns, ignoring the government's calls for self-containment for people returning from at-risk countries, the 57-year-old Uruguayan visits her 84-year-old mother before mingling with some 500 guests. a big wedding party that brings together the gratin of Montevideo, the Uruguayan capital.
“I didn't feel bad when I went to the wedding. I had no symptoms ", says Carmela H. on her Instagram account. However, the traveler is indeed a carrier of the coronavirus. On March 13, she was one of the first people to test positive for Covid-19 in Uruguay. According to the authorities, she infected at least 44 people at the marriage, more than half of the 79 cases of coronavirus registered in the country on March 18.
The envisaged containment
"I am indignant, but then so indignant, at what Carmela did! " ; "Let's talk about it later, I'm hysterical there!" " ; "But still, if a person comes back from Europe, he cannot go to a marriage, where does he live? In a Tupperware? " The week of March 9, audio messages exchanged between acquaintances of Carmela H. on the WhatsApp messaging application leaked on social networks, causing hilarity – largely due to the intonations typical of the most privileged social classes of the country – and the anger of the Uruguayans.
Because the story does not end there: confined to her apartment in the chic Carrasco district of Montevideo, Carmela H. continued to receive her children and relatives, according to the Uruguayan neighbors. The property administration has filed a complaint against Carmela H. and her family for violating the mandatory quarantine – which concerns carriers of coronavirus and those who have been in contact with them.
Faced with the acceleration of the epidemic in the country, the right-wing president Luis Lacalle Pou, in power since 1er March, took drastic measures to try to curb the spread of the virus: partial closure of borders (especially with European countries and neighboring Argentina), suspension of parliamentary activities and interruption of lessons for all students for at least a fortnight . Containment of the entire population could even be declared in the coming days. "All options are on the table", official sources told the Uruguayan newspaper El País.
