Valparaíso suffers the perfect storm: explosion of cases and collapse of health

VALPARAÍSO.- The avalanche of tourists who received the Chilean region of Valparaiso during the summer generated after the end of the season one Perfect thunderstorm: explosive rise in coronavirus infections, collapse of hospitals and a shattered economy.

With infections stabilizing towards the end of last year, the presidential administration Sebastian piñera made a decision that For many experts, this is one of the main reasons for the increase in cases in the country, but especially in tourist towns: the authorization of a holiday permit.

The region of Valparaíso, located on the central coast, With 1.8 million inhabitants, it was the destination of 1.2 million holders of these permits. Many without chinstrap and without paying attention to physical distancing, visitors filled spas such as Viña del Mar -the most popular in the region- and they took over the picturesque streets of the port of Valparaíso.

This coastal town was once again an attraction for its old elevators that connect its more than 42 hills, and the bars, cafes and restaurants were overflowing with tourists, who lined up long to enter.

“The result of this was an exponential increase in the number of cases which is reflected today in collapsed hospitals that are in total Covid mode (…) with exhausted, overwhelmed and helpless healthcare staff, ”said Ignacio de La Torre, president of Valparaíso Medical College and pediatrician of the Van Buren hospital, the largest in the region.

The collapse of the morgue of this medical establishment at the end of March – which forced the installation of a container Frigorífico- represented the symbol of the overflow of the hospital system of Valparaíso after the end of the holidays.

Paola Quiñonez, an employee of a food company, went to be vaccinated terrified after seeing the figures of the pandemic in Valparaíso on television: a total of more than 70,600 people infected and around 2,000 deaths in this region located about 120 km west of Santiago. Summer “was our worst time, it was the peak (of the pandemic). There were a lot of people, there were parties, there were a lot of people on the beachesShe said after being vaccinated in the Catholic parish of the Miraculous Medal, on the populated hill of Playa Ancha de Valparaíso.

The temple has been transformed into a vaccination center which around 450 people attend daily. Paola, 51, received a first dose in this church where health personnel have installed four vaccination points, at the foot of portraits of saints, an image of the Virgin Mary and another of Christ crucified.

More than seven million people in Chile have already received at least one dose of available vaccines, in a rapid inoculation process that develops alongside the sudden increase in infections. On a daily basis, they have been recorded in recent days more than 8,000 new infections, above the figures of the first wave.

Although the holidays were necessary “for the mental health of many people”, according to Dr de La Torre, now that the tourists have left and Valparaíso and Viña del Mar have returned to quarantine, their inhabitants are suffering from the increase in contagions and the economic crisis that has hit this region since October 2019, when social protests began in the country. The hotels, bars and commercial premises that had barely resisted are on the verge of disappearing in an area where commercial and tourist activity represents about 30% of the economy.

The traditional Cinzano bar, cradle of the bohemian porteña of Valparaíso, temporarily closed after 124 years to receive, above all, foreign tourists, attracted by the history of the place which began as a grocery store founded by an Italian immigrant.

“El Cinzano was closed due to the social epidemic, due to the pandemic, which left the city without tourists, and also because of the little help from the government”, lamented Mariano Muñoz, administrator of this famous bar located in the center of this town. city, whose old town has been declared a World Heritage Site by Unesco.

From an economic point of view, the holiday permit has enabled the hotel sector to achieve an occupancy rate of 50% during the summer, while restaurants and cafes served on outdoor terraces and took advantage of the delivery“If this permit had not existed, the impact on the gastronomic hospitality sector would have been much greater,” said Julián Arellano, director of the School of Hospitality and Gastronomic Administration at the University of Valparaíso. . Although there is still no date, the Cinzano will try to survive the pandemic and reopen when the quarantine in Valparaíso is released.

Agencia AFP

AFP