President of Chile to postpone elections scheduled from April to May due to new wave of COVID-19

The President of Chile, Sebastián Piñera, proposed this Sunday to the Congress a reform aiming to postpone the municipal and constituent elections of the delegates scheduled for April 10 and 11 to May 15 and 16, amid the confinement that affects more than 16 million people and the uncontrolled advance of the pandemic in his country.

“Our goal is that before May 15 and 16, we can vaccinate 9.3 million people, which will allow for more secure elections.”, the Chilean president said on the television network.

The President underlined two main reasons for carrying out such a postponement: health protection and participation in elections. “Although, like so many others, it was a very difficult decision, but we have to take it and we have the full conviction that it is the best for Chile and the Chileans.”

On April 10 and 11, Chile was called to the polls to elect, by popular vote, the future mayors, councilors, regional governors and the 155 conventional voters who will have to write a probable future constitution for Chile. Initially, the vote was scheduled for April 11, but due to the pandemic, the day of Saturday 10 was added to avoid crowds, and to favor the vote of the critical population of the country.

If the announced modification takes place, “the second round of the election of governors, which was to be held on Sunday May 9, will be held on Sunday July 4, at the same time as the presidential primaries”.

“I asked the ministers of the Political Committee to attend Congress tomorrow to share this bill with parliamentarians and also to explain to the public how this postponement will be made compatible with election campaigns, propaganda, funding, the situation of mayors and candidates and all other relevant aspects, ”Piñera added.

The success of the Chilean vaccination program does not yet seem to translate into containment of the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, Chilean authorities reported today that 7,326 new covid-19 infections have been detected, ending a record week of expanding pandemic, with the hospital network at the limit, 16 million people in total quarantine and more than 30,000 deaths between confirmed and suspected cases according to the Statistics Directorate of the Ministry of Health (Minsal).

To date, the country, whose confinement decreed by Minsal affects 97% of the population, maintains 41,767 active cases, that is to say people with the capacity to spread the disease.

To stop the spread of the virus, over the weekend, the government canceled personal travel permits across the country, in addition to ordering the closure of major supermarket chains and markets.

According to the Health portfolio, 2,539 people remain hospitalized in intensive care units, including 2,178 with mechanical ventilation assistance. With 95% of the health network at full capacity, the deaths of 101 people have been reported in the past 24 hours, for a total of 22,754 deaths with PCR positive.

Since the start of the pandemic in Chile, 977,243 people have contracted covid-19, and on the last day the national positivity rate was 9.1% and 8% in the metropolitan area. The Government, which has committed 35 million doses to carry out its vaccination plans, hopes to vaccinate 80% of the population by the end of June.

Thus, what is called “the Chilean paradox”, resulted in a successful vaccination campaign (more than 6 million vaccinated), but that has been overshadowed by high infections and hospitalizations for the coronavirus,

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