With record infections, Chile braces for mega-quarantine in Santiago

Chile gears up for a mega-quarantine weekend, with 97% of the population confined and shopping permits suspended, as the pandemic spirals out of control and new daily infections are breaking records, crossing the barrier of 7600 and waking up all the alarms.

The capital’s supermarkets woke up this Friday full of citizens seeking to stock up for the new home confinement in anticipation of the fact that for the next two days they will not be able to shop.

The 95% occupancy of the hospital, The availability of only 160 intensive care beds nationwide and the increase in circulation of the Brazilian and British variants, led authorities on Thursday to tighten restrictions in the metropolitan area, to which Santiago belongs and where they live most. . 7 million people.

“It is important that citizens maintain self-care measures and respect the quarantine which begins tomorrow in different municipalities of the country and which will cover the entire metropolitan region,” said Minister of Health Enrique Paris.

Is the second time Santiago goes into total isolation, after the more than three months that have passed between May and August of last year, with the exception of this weekend when supermarkets and fairs will be closed to the public and only home delivery will be allowed, a measure highly criticized by the sector.

Nationally, around 16.3 million Chileans will be in quarantine as of this Saturday (83.6% of the population), to which are added nearly 2.6 million (13.4%) who live in areas which have a larger opening from Monday to Friday. but they are confined on weekends, so this Saturday and Sunday 97% of the total population of the country will be confined.

Fear of doctors

“We are afraid of being overwhelmed, of not having the capacity to provide care and hospitalize those who need it,” admitted the president of the faculty of medicine, Izkia Siches.

If this happens, he added, “the risk of dying from covid-19 increases, or also from any other serious illness, such as a car accident or stroke.”

In the past 24 hours, 7,626 new cases have been recorded, the highest record in the entire pandemicand 63 deaths, bringing the total balance in one year to 962,321 infected and 22,587 deaths.

Of the total number of infections recorded to date, 41,151 correspond to active cases today, a figure never before reached.

The positivity rate – the number of COVID-19 infections detected for every 100 PCR tests performed – also remained at 9.6%, far from the 5% that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends to maintain for two weeks followed to consider the pandemic under control.

No more vaccinated, but no more cases

The second wave began in December with the arrival of the austral summer and worsened at the end of February, the month par excellence for holidays.

But the truth is that Chile never managed to control the first epidemic, which experienced its most critical moment between last June and July, when the hospital network was at its limit and the positivity rate was around 40%.

The worsening of the second wave occurs at the same time as Chile remains the third country with the highest proportion of vaccinated in the world, behind Israel and the United Arab Emirates. More than 6.2 million people have already received at least one dose of the vaccine, which is equivalent to 40% of the population.

The rapid vaccination rate, however, could have worked against Chile and arrested the population. overconfidence, to which is added fatigue after a year with restrictions, according to experts.

Postpone the elections?

More and more voices are calling for a postponement of the municipal and regional elections scheduled for the weekend of April 10 and 11, during which the voters responsible for drafting a new constitution will also be elected.

Parliament convened this Friday for next week the Minister of Health and Siches herself to assess the postponement, also requested by part of the opposition.

“In the face of the critical situation of the pandemic, my appeal is for unity behind the most important goal: to save lives, stop infections and financially support families. The reasonable thing is to postpone the elections. of April, “said Socialist Party Presidential candidate Paula Narváez.

By María M. Mur, EFE agency

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