Chile with high Covid-19 numbers on the eve of the elections

The official part of the state of the epidemic, corresponding to Thursday until 9:00 pm local time, recorded 273 thousand 516 injured and 27 thousand and 647 deaths in the country since the beginning of the epidemic in March 2020.

Likewise, the report provides an account of 36 thousand 746 patients who are still active, of whom two thousand 976 have been admitted to intensive care units, of which more than 400 thousand are connected to mechanical ventilation devices.

Although the data on active patients and ICUs are showing a slow but continuous decline, those on infections are noticeably high so far, with health authorities at this time expecting it to not exceed 4,500.

Regarding this situation, the Secretary of the College of Medicine, José Miguel Bernucci, in an interview with ADN Radio, indicated that the authorities’ estimates “will fall short.”

He considered that it is possible that the openings created in recent weeks, when many areas were quarantined, had affected a slower than expected decrease in injuries.

Bernucci insisted that the main factor affecting Chile so that an increase in cases could occur in the coming days is the high mobility, which is being maintained even in the municipalities subject to quarantine.

For his part, the spokesman for the Presidency of the Republic, Jaime Bellolio, played down the high number of cases, noting that the situation is now more favorable than it was when it was decided to postpone the elections next April.

But he warned that “it cannot in any way mean the easing of measures, and this is very important.”

He stressed, “We do not want there to be any kind of regrowth and for this reason we have taken all the guarantees,” thanks to the Congress, which approved the Safe Referendum Act, the electoral service and all who are committed to making sure that the elections are safe from the start and a healthy point of view.

Memory / Red Cross