14ymedio, Luz Escobar, Havana, 6 October 2020 – From the early hours of the morning, the entire building was focused on the yellow tape that has surrounded us since the 23rd. Last night they knocked on each neighbor’s door to announce that at nine in the morning the municipal health authorities would come to lift the confinement imposed by the appearance of a positive case of Covid-19, which occurred in a relative of some of the neighbors, a person who didn’t even live in the building.
The clock struck 9:00 and then 10:00 and nothing, then just before 11:00 the authorities from the Ministry of Public Health, our delegate to the People’s Power, police officers and neighbors who served as volunteers during the confinement began to gather in the park. They chatted animatedly until suddenly they distanced themselves from each other, stood to attention and the national anthem began to play.
In a martial position, the officials in charge of carrying out the opening ceremony read words of gratitude to all those who offered their help to achieve order and coordinate the sales of food and supplies to people in the building, continue the surveillance on the property’s entrance, and ensure discipline in all areas, as well as maintain cleanliness during the 14-day quarantine.
The solemn act lasted half an hour and each of the volunteers was given a diploma while they received a sporting applause from those present. From the balconies and looking out through their window shutters, many residents did not want to miss the exact moment when a police officer cut the yellow tape and rolled it around his hands to remove it.
After being locked up for two weeks, the anxiety was great. Backlogged plans and dozens of sentences in mind that start with the words “when I get out of this, I’m going to …”
“We are free,” a neighbor shouted to another from balcony to balcony. A few minutes later, a grandfather was bringing his granddaughter down to ride her bicycle in the park and a young woman was taking her dog for a walk.
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