Around the country miners have been forced to slow or suspend operations with the government strictly curbing movement and activity with military presence on the streets to halt the virus with 416 confirmed cases so far. The government of President Martin Vizcarra has decreed a state of emergency and a nightly curfew for 15 days that ends in late March, some of the most drastic measures among Latin American countries to fight the virus. The biggest hit has come from tumbling copper prices which have fallen by around a fifth in the last two months as the virus has spread globally after initially emerging in China, the main buyer of Peruvian copper.