New cases drop 11% in Chile and authorities speak of “stabilization”

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Chilean health authorities said on Thursday, June 17, that the number of Covid-19 infections has “stabilized” after reporting that in the last seven days the number of new infections decreased by 11% nationally.

“We have managed to stabilize in the number of new patients, however, we must not lower our defences. We must maintain this path of declining cases by reinforcing the message that the virus remains,” said Health Minister Enrique Paris.

The country has been plunged for weeks in a peak of the pandemic that put the health system on the ropes and led to register more than 8,000 infected per day. However, in the last 24 hours, the number of infections was 6,683, one of the lowest figures recorded on a Thursday for weeks.

The positivity rate – the number of positive cases per 100 PCR tests performed – also declined and was 7.8%, the lowest since mid-May, while in the capital, it was 10%.

With more than 1.5 million cases and 31,140 total deaths – 218 of which were recorded in the last 24 hours – the country is leading one of the most successful vaccination processes in the world: it has managed to immunize 60 % of the target population with two doses and more than 76 % with one injection.

These figures place Chile as the country with the second-highest percentage of fully inoculated population in the world, according to data from Oxford University.

Despite this, the hospital occupancy rate in intensive care units (ICU) remains above 95%, with 3,302 patients in serious condition, which means that only 175 critical beds remain free throughout the country.

To prevent the spread of the virus, dozens of neighborhoods across the country, including the entire capital, are quarantined, meaning that in these areas all non-essential commerce and schools remain closed.

This is a looser confinement than the previous ones, since those who have the vaccination card, a measure recently implemented, will be able to go for a walk and make essential purchases without restrictions (the rest can only go out twice a week).

Chile has maintained closed borders, a curfew from 10 PM to 5 AM (local time), and a state of emergency due to a catastrophe for more than a year.