RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Chile’s President Sebastian Piñera has conceded his government’s failures in managing the Covid-19 crisis. However, at the same time, he criticized the projections for infection and mortality rates.
Many of them had turned out to be “not very accurate” in recent months, he said, and “far from the truth”.
Last Monday, the Institute for Health Monitoring and Evaluation (IHME) of Washington University published a report with updated projections for infection and mortality rates in South America caused by the novel coronavirus.
In addition to Brazil and Peru, the figures for Chile are more dramatic than expected in mid-May. For the start of July, the IHME projects 236 daily deaths, with variations between 60 and 600, but Pablo Villalobos, a public health expert and advisor to the World Health Organization (WHO), calls for a cautious interpretation of these figures due to potential variations. The reason for this is the current lack of information on Covid-19 numbers.
Meanwhile, the health care system is reaching its limits. The Chilean Community of Intensive Care Medicine reported on Sunday that in some parts of Santiago the occupancy rate of beds stands between 96 and 99 percent.
To prevent hospital collapse, additional beds have been set up, ventilators purchased, staff increased and patients moved to other cities in the country. However, doctors are concerned about the development as the numbers continue to rise.
Whereas in Santiago, Iquique, and Alto Hospicio in the north and Lonquimay in the south the quarantine measures were extended until June 5th, this is not the case for all cities in the country.
On Friday at 10 PM, quarantine was lifted in Antofagasta and Mejillones in the northern part of the country. The Mayor of Antofagasta, Karen Rojo, views this with concern: “Quarantine was enforced very late and will be lifted today at the worst possible time,” she said, commenting on the Ministry of Health’s decision.
The availability of intensive care beds in the city is still precarious and there are insufficient reliable figures on the current level of infection and outbreaks.
Source: Amerika21