“Sustained growth” of cases raises concerns in Chile

Chilean authorities reported on Thursday that major cities in the south of the country such as Concepcin, Talcahuano and Temuco will enter total quarantine after registering a sustained increase in covid-19 infections in the area, with more than 3,600 active cases in the region of Biobo, 500 kilometers south of the capital.

In turn, the Ministry of Health decreed that 12 municipalities of the metropolitan region, in which it is located Santiago de Chile, back this Saturday to the second phase of the government plan “Step by Step”, forcing about 3.5 million people (nearly 50% of its inhabitants) to quarantine on weekends.

“For several weeks we have seen a sustained increase cases in different parts of the country, “said the Under Secretary for Public Health, Paula Daza, amid doubts about the possibility that a “third wave” of the pandemic.

Daza explained that after a pandemic wing “pandemic fatigue occurs”, the fatigue they say they fought with “repeated calls to maintain self-care measures.”

More extreme cases, such as the O’Higgins region in central Chile, have recorded a 40% more infected by coronavirus.

At the national level, while the government allowed the start of the school year and at least 43 schools presented positive cases of covid-19, forcing their communities to take containment measures, the seven-day positivity rate increased by 16%.

According to the daily report led by the Minister of Health, Enrique ParisIn the past 24 hours, 4,567 new coronavirus infections have been detected, reaching more than 840,000 infected since the start of the pandemic in March of last year.

In addition, health officials reported the deaths of 134 people in the past day, adding 20,838 confirmed deaths from causes related to covid-19 to date (over 27,000 including suspected cases).

With more than 25,000 patients in the active stage of the disease nationwide, i.e. capable of spreading the virus, to date 1,721 people remain hospitalized in intensive care units, of which 1,473 benefit from mechanical ventilation support.

Chile, which launched a mass vaccination campaign a month ago after the arrival of a large shipment of doses Sinovac, directs the inoculation process in Latin America with more than 3.8 million people vaccinated till today.

By negotiating in advance with various laboratories around the world, Chile has committed a total of 35 million doses which will be disseminated through its vast network of primary care distributed throughout the country.

The Chilean government’s plan is to vaccinate the entire at-risk population (around 5 million people) in the first quarter of 2021 and the rest of the target population (15 million) in the first six months of the year.