Coronavirus: even with early covid vaccination, Chile orders confinement of 70% of the population
Number of new cases of covid-19 in Chile increased by 17% in the last week, according to the government
To combat the increase in coronavirus cases, more than 13 million people will return to quarantine in Chile as of Thursday (03/25), according to an announcement by the country's Ministry of Health.
The measure was taken because, in the last week, new cases increased by 17%. In the last two weeks, the increase was 36%, as stated by the Chilean Minister of Health, Enrique Paris.
Within 24 hours, more than 6,000 new cases of covid-19 were detected in Chile and 80 deaths were reported, according to the government.
The increase in the number of cases occurs despite the fact that the vaccination campaign in the country is one of the most advanced in the region.
As a result of the new restrictions, a total of 42 communes, of which 21 belong to the Santiago Metropolitan Region, will be confined again as of Thursday. The other 21 communes belong to the regions of Coquimbo, Valparaíso, O'Higgins, Maule, Ñuble, Biobío and Los Lagos.
The total number of people who will be confined in these areas (about 19 million) corresponds to almost 70% of the Chilean population.
As an additional measure, starting on Saturday (03/27), individual travel authorizations on weekends and holidays will be eliminated, announced the undersecretary of Public Health, Paula Daza.
"We need to control the pandemic and, to that end, decrease mobility," he said.
Experts consulted by the BBC in early March agree that the causes of the new increase are diverse and are due to reasons ranging from the policies implemented to contain the virus from the beginning of the pandemic to the tiredness of the measures a year later. One of the reasons for the increase earlier this year, they said, was the relaxation of certain mobility restrictions during the summer months.
Advanced vaccination
The current situation in Chile is seen by many as a warning to other countries in Latin America because the increase in cases and restrictions occurs despite the fact that the country is at the forefront of the vaccination campaign against coronavirus.
Much of Chile's population will return to quarantine despite advances in vaccination
Chile is among the countries that most administered doses of vaccine against covid per 100 thousand inhabitants. Until the beginning of this week, it was practically tied with the United Kingdom, both behind Israel and the United Arab Emirates, according to a survey conducted by the University of Oxford .
As of this Monday (03/22), more than 2.9 million people have received two doses of the vaccine against covid-19 in Chile, according to the Ministry of Health.
To date, a total of 5,642,004 people have been vaccinated across the country.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Chile has registered 938,094 cases of covid-19 and 22,359 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health.
No comments:
Post a Comment