6 min ago
Venezuela announces nationwide "social quarantine" to contain coronavirus
From CNN’s Abel Alvarez and Jackie Castillo in Atlanta
Customers wait to go into a supermarket in Caracas, Venezuela, Monday, March 16. AP Photo/Ariana Cubillos
Venezuela's embattled President Nicolas Maduro announced a nationwide quarantine during a televised coronavirus briefing earlier today.
The "social quarantine" will go into effect 5 a.m. local time Tuesday, Maduro said in the briefing.
“We are trying to get ahead of this crisis,” Maduro said. "If we don’t get a hold of it and stop it, it could severely damage our community.”
Police, health officials, and local governments will work together to enforce the quarantine, according to a statement from the
presidential press office.
Venezuela has 33 coronavirus cases, according to Maduro.