With record daily coronavirus infections, Chile closes borders for 30 days

Chile will close all of its borders next Monday for 30 days, restrict foreign travel and ban the entry of non-resident aliens, the government announced today, after recording a record 7,830 new cases of coronavirus in a day despite the success of his vaccination campaign.

From Monday, it will only be possible to leave Chile for reasons “fundamental to the country, because there is a humanitarian measure involved, because it is essential for health, or because the person who leaves does not return, “Under-Secretary for Crime Prevention Katherine Martorell told a press conference at the presidential palace in La Moneda.

Likewise, non-resident aliens cannot enter, except for those from countries that do not report community transmission of the virus, according to a World Health Organization (WHO) list.

Before this measure, the government itself had indicated that those entering the country had to undergo a preventive quarantine of 14 days in a sanitary hotel.

The highest number of daily infections in Chile in the entire pandemic was also reported simultaneously, with 7,830 new cases and 193 deaths in the past 24 hours.

With these figures, the country has accumulated 1,003,406 people infected since the start of the pandemic, of which 42,915 people with the active infection and 23,328 have died from the disease.

The previous record for daily infections, with 7,626, was recorded on March 26.

In the case of those who have died, the figure for the past 24 hours is the second highest in the pandemic, behind the 279 on June 27, 2020.

Authorities said the hospital crisis was continuing, reporting 2,729 patients admitted to intensive care units, 2,358 of whom were connected to mechanical ventilation.

The government has calculated more than 90% occupancy of critical beds nationwide, due to the increase in cases, the highest since May and June of last year.

Despite the success of the vaccination plan, which has already added 6,795,818 people vaccinated with at least one dose and 10,461,783 doses inoculated in total, restrictive measures have increased due to the second wave of infections.

The authorities, visibly concerned by the progress of the pandemic, also indicated that the start of the curfew, already in force, is brought forward to 9 p.m., also from Monday.

“These are tough times, but health has always been a priority for the government,” Martorell argued.

The undersecretary also explained that the authorities have redefined which essential services for home use and which businesses will continue to operate despite the quarantine in the metropolitan area, the main source of infection in the country, and in other communes. (neighborhoods) of the country. for a while, weeks.

Essential goods or services for domestic use are the sale of food, medicine, toiletries and personal hygiene, in addition to those essential for teleworking, distance education and the conservation and security of the property. .

In the case of commerce and shopping centers, only stores and supermarkets that sell essential goods and services for household use can be opened to the public.

He also announced that the number of weekly permits for population movements is reduced to two, which are requested via the virtual police station, a carabinieri (police) platform, in order to be able to leave his home in full quarantine.

“Health officials are not subject to these measures and do not need a single collective license,” said the undersecretary.

The official announced that all these restrictive measures have one main objective, which is “a reduction in mobility by 30% and we hope that this figure will reach a reduction of 40% or 50% in mobility”.

He also reported that the “choose to live healthy” plan, which focuses on letting people exercise outdoors, was set between 6 and 9 a.m. Monday through Sunday.

Also that the masses with the public will only be authorized in phase 1 (quarantine) for a maximum of five people.

“We are living through very complex times of the pandemic in Chile,” said Enrique Paris, Minister of Health.

“The measures are always taken with a health criterion,” he said.

On the other hand, the authorities reported that 19 other municipalities in the regions would be placed in total quarantine as of Monday at 5 p.m. and with this measure, 86.6% of Chile would be in detention from that day, according to the newspaper La Tercera.

The metropolitan area has not undergone any changes, so the entire capital will remain in total containment.

“We urgently need to make an extra effort because we are at a very critical moment in the pandemic,” said government spokesman Jaime Bellolio.

Chile is the sixth country in Latin America with the most confirmed cases of coronavirus and entered the group of 21 countries with more than a million cumulative infections, according to WHO data.