Santiago de Chile enters quarantine at the end of …

The metropolitan region of Santiago de Chile started today a quarantine on weekends, which limits the movement of people. The measure is taken due to the 18% increase in cases of coronavirus which are registered in the Chilean capital. Nationwide, there are nearly 570,000 infections and more than 15,800 deaths from the disease.

The weekend quarantine affects the 7.1 million inhabitants of the capital region, where the number of active coronavirus cases has risen to 2,565 out of a total of 10,530 registered across the country, according to the Ministry of Health.

“The situation is alert, we must be responsible; the ideal is that they stay at home, we make a sacrifice to have a good Christmas, to have a good New Year and, hopefully, have a good summer “, said the Minister of Health, Enrique Paris, during the report this Saturday.

Health officials have reported 1,807 new cases nationwide and 64 deaths, totaling 569,781 infected and 15,846 deaths since the start of the pandemic. The country saw a peak in infections in June, when 7,000 cases were reached every day. Today, the situation has stabilized, with an average of 1,000 to 1,500 cases per day.

With the quarantine in the metropolitan area, residents of Santiago and the surrounding area will have to apply to the police for a permit online to be able to leave their homes over the weekend. “We have seen how cases have increased and the decrease in mobility on weekends is key to reducing the number of infections,” said Public Health Under Secretary Paula Daza.

The measure also prohibits inter-regional travel, while shopping centers, gymnasiums, cinemas, theaters and nightclubs must be closed. Two weeks before the Christmas and New Year’s holidays, the new restrictions came under heavy criticism from the trade, which was just starting to resume sales after a very difficult year due to Covid-19.

In the face of criticism, the government drew up a protocol so that street fairs for small traders could continue to operate. “I understand the traders who think this is probably an attack on their performance, on their work, but if we don’t do it now we will have a much stricter quarantine over the summer,” said Paris.