The advance of the Delta variant: in which provinces has it exceeded 100 cases of infections

One of the issues that most preoccupied the government in the days leading up to the Primary, Open, Simultaneous and Compulsory (STEP) is the community circulation of Delta variant of the coronavirus, the most dangerous lineage of all the current ones. This Monday, the province of Cordoba reported having already detected a total 105 cases of COVID-19 corresponding to this strain.

In the Casa Rosada, they already have the latest data from the genomic surveillance report, a document which indicates that as of August 30, they had been identified. 311 cases of Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 nationwide, a lower number than various health experts predicted for this time of year.

According to official data, out of the total, 283 correspond to imported cases (224 to international travelers and 59 to persons related to these travelers); 15 cases in which the relationship with the import could not be established (3 of these contacts identified through the epidemiological investigation of cases) and 13 which correspond to a conglomerate of related cases which are still under investigation to determine its origin.

The jurisdictions where citizens who have arrived from abroad and who have been detected the Delta variant reside are: Caba, Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Santa Fe, Santa Cruz Mendoza, Río Negro, Salta, Tucumán and Chubut.

In this sense, a worrying information: as at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA) records the highest number of cases of the Delta variant with 216 positives out of the 311 registered to date, or 69.45% of the total.

As for international travelers, more than 50% had been negative when entering Argentina and they were then detected during the period of mandatory home isolation, both because they developed symptoms or because they took the mandatory diagnostic test on the seventh day of check-up.

In the case of the Delta variant imported from abroad two deaths were recorded in the province of Cordoba, the first in an international traveler and the second in a related matter. Both with risk factors and without having been vaccinated. The updated data of 105 total infections that the province released on Monday has yet to impact the national report by the portfolio led by Carla Vizzotti, which is renewed weekly.

Geographical distribution of positives

• Buenos Aires: 89
• CABA: 127
• Cordoba: 72
• Chubut: 1
• Mendoza: 4
• Black River: 1
• Jump: 1
• Santa Cruz: 1
• Santa Fé: 9
• Tucuman: 5

Regarding Delta cases unrelated to importation, 12 cases were detected in the city of Buenos Aires – nine of which are unrelated and three correspond to contacts of cases identified by the epidemiological investigation -, 2 cases with residence in the province of Buenos Aires and one in the province of Tucumán.

In the province of Cordoba, 13 related cases have also been detected, belonging to the same conglomerate whose origin is under investigation.

To prevent the spread of this lineage, the Government has taken the decision to restrict the entry of Argentines from abroad in order to delay the community circulation of the Delta as much as possible. These days, Casa Rosada is preparing to bring the number of qualifiers to enter per day to 2,300.

Healthcare for WWTP

The Government is working against the clock to complete the preparations for an atypical Primary, Open, Simultaneous and Compulsory (STEP): they will be the first of a pandemic and will therefore require a series of special care to prevent infections and the spread of the coronavirus.

To achieve this goal, Casa Rosada had to adapt the current voting centers and create thousands of others: for these primaries, there will be 14,000 schools with 17,000 places authorized to pay. Not only educational institutions were added, but also clubs and other spaces in which the distance of two meters can be observed and there is cross ventilation.

During these elections, an unprecedented figure can be observed. It is health facilitator, who will be a member of the Election Command, and must ensure that care is respected and that people do not crowd into confined spaces.

According to figures seen by TN.com.ar, the electoral command should have 25,000 more agents than in the 2019 presidential elections and between two thousand and four thousand new polling centers.

At the Ministry of the Interior headed by Eduardo “Wado” de Pedro, they assure that these sanitary measures have increased the cost of the primaries and the legislative elections, bringing them to around 19 billion pesos.