The reincorporation of self-employed to their activities have already begun, after the start in this eastern Cuban province of the first phase within the post-COVID-19 recovery stage, authorities from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security reported here.
Las Tunas, Cuba.- More than 300 self-employed workers have already notified their return to activity, said Oleydis Saucedo Licea, provincial director of Labor and Social Security, who appeared on the Alto y Claro radio and television program. However, she clarified that this comes with various rules related to physical distance and hygiene.
This is the case of food processors-vendors, who must continue to do so from their homes. In the case of the owners of bars, restaurants, cafes and recreation equipment, they must respect the established provisions regarding the distancing between customers and the limitations of 30 and up to 50 percent of the capacity of their premises, she stressed.
In the same way, she indicated, those who work in concentrated areas, generally located in squares and parks of the province, will resume when it is authorized by the respective municipal Administration councils, as urban, hygienic and other regulations aimed at guaranteeing the physical separation between consumers and sellers.
"The self-employed who resume do not have to go to our offices, they just have to call and inform. But before they start again they must report it, otherwise they could be fined," she said.
The directive also commented that other self-employed people, who kept working, as is the case of the landlords of spaces and houses, could continue their work, although they will only be able to provide services for Cuban individuals or legal entities. Finally, she emphasized that in this first phase no new licenses will be granted and that the reopening of private gyms will not be allowed either.
Of the more than 25,000 self-employed workers here, more than 9,000 stopped their activities when confinement and cessation of services measures to prevent the spread of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus were enforced last March.
In the context of confronting SARS-CoV-2, workers in this sector who were unable to maintain their businesses or were among the vulnerable population groups to the COVID-19, received the benefits of Social Assistance with temporary monetary remuneration.
The Cuban Government has insisted that the non-state sector will continue to have its place within the country's transition to the new normality, imposed by the existence of COVID-19.
