Chile reports a positivity rate of 1.78 %, its lowest since pandemic began

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Chilean health authorities reported a positivity rate of 1.78% this Sunday, August 1, after performing 59,375 PCR tests during the day at the national level, the lowest rate of the entire Covid-19 pandemic since its arrival in the country in March 2020.

A positivity rate (number of positive results per 100 tests performed) of less than 5% for two consecutive weeks is one of the epidemiological criteria established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to consider the pandemic under control.

Read also: Check out our coverage on Chile

“The positivity in the Metropolitan Region remains at 2%, and 15 regions have positivity less than or equal to 2%; of which Magallanes has 0%, while Antofagasta, O’Higgins, Ñuble, Los Lagos and Aysén have 1%. The variation of new confirmed cases at national level is -15% and -43% for the comparison of 7 and 14 days respectively,” said the Minister of Health, Enrique Paris.

The figures confirm the downward trend in new infections shown in recent weeks, which is why the Chilean government has relaxed mobility restrictions in different country cities, including the capital, Santiago.

In the new balance of the Ministry of Health, 1,185 new cases were reported, reaching a total of 1.6 million people infected to date, of which 7,874 are in the active stage of the disease, i.e., they have the capacity to spread the virus.

The critical beds throughout the country, which between April and July were close to collapse due to a second serious wave of infections, are now 86% full, with 1,370 people hospitalized, of whom 1,094 remain on mechanical ventilation.

Since April, Chile has kept its borders closed to foreigners, and a curfew is in force throughout the country from midnight to 5 am.

In addition, the country has developed one of the best-organized vaccination campaigns globally, with more than 80% of the target population immunized, mostly with Coronavac doses from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac.

Early this morning, the authorities received a new shipment of 449,200 AstraZeneca vaccines, totaling more than 2.1 million doses imported from this laboratory.

In the coming weeks, Pfizer-BioNTech shipments are expected to arrive, which will add to the total of more than 29 million vaccines purchased by the country.