Learned of some new restrictions here in Iquitos:
- Motor vehicles only allowed between 5AM and 10AM (there has been a curfew, from 8PM till 5AM, ever since the lockdown started).
- Residents can only leave homes every other day…. determined by your national ID number. Evens get Mon, Wed, Fri, Sun, and odds get the other days. (Not fair to odds!)
- Police to stop everyone and verify receipts in order to be sure you were out for essential reasons only… food, medicine, bank. They are to check ID for odd/even number and your address in order to make sure you only go to the stores nearest your home.
- I do not think they consider birding essential, even though it clearly is.
- Not only must you wear a facemask when on street, you must now wear gloves.
So if you think your Shelter In Place order is tough, I assure you it could be worse.
Most of this is not being enforced… yet. We birded the Malecon today without rubber gloves.
Other guests at our hotel have been asked to not leave the premises. One fellow regularly goes out on the street to smoke, and the hotel is asking that he sit on the front steps and go no further. Apparently police may come harrass the hotel if they deem they are being too lenient and not keeping guests on a short leash.
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