Chile: 24 communes to enter quarantine after Covid-19 infections surge

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Much of Chile’s capital and several communes across the country will return to a full quarantine starting Saturday, March 20th, due to the sharp increase in coronavirus cases in the country, while the vaccination process covering over 5.3 million people with at least one dose is progressing.

The municipality of Santiago – stores, offices and residential areas – will go into quarantine seven months after the last total containment decree was lifted on August 16th. Seven other municipalities within the Chilean capital, home to 7.1 million of the country’s nearly 19 million inhabitants, will go into quarantine. In total, 24 communes across the country will be confined.

Read: Despite being the world’s Covid-19 vaccination champion, Chile records high infection rate

On Thursday, another nine districts of the Metropolitan region began their confinement, in an attempt to halt the surge in the number of infections, which on that day totaled 6,249 new cases and 172 deaths.

“The figures on the behavior of the coronavirus are still high,” said Health Minister Enrique Paris, while releasing Thursday’s balance, when the highest daily number of cases was registered since June last year, at the height of the first wave of the disease.

Since the first case was detected in the country, on March 3rd, 2020, Chile counts 911,469 infections and 21,988 deaths due to Covid-19.

Read: Chile overtakes Israel and becomes world leader in Covid-19 vaccination

The surge in Chile comes after the end of the southern hemisphere summer vacations and with the successful progress of the vaccination campaign across the country, where 5.3 million people have already been administered at least the first dose, which is equivalent to almost one-third of the target population to be immunized.

Half of people who have been immunized since February 3rd, when the campaign for the general population began, are aged over 60, the Minister explained. Based on this progress, hospitalizations of patients over 70 years of age are decreasing, Paris added.

President Sebastián Piñera this week celebrated the fact that Chile has surpassed 5 million people with at least a first vaccine dose administered, a goal that his government had set for the end of the month. The President also announced that vaccination of healthy people, aged 50 to 59, will begin on March 24th.

Read: How Chile achieved Latin America’s most extensive and efficient vaccination program

Furthermore, the Ministry of Health announced on Thursday that early immunization will be provided to polling station officers who will take part in the next elections of constituents, mayors, governors and city councilors, to be held on April 11th.

Source: infobae