Ross Brown/The Santiago Times Staff
SANTIAGO – Chile’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday said that 3,913 new cases of coronavirus were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the total figure to 142,759 in the South American country.
MINSAL also reported that another 19 people lost their lives due to the virus, bringing the total number of deaths to 2,283.
Heath Minister Jaime Mañalich clarified that the new figure, which is quite low compared to that reported in the previous days, “should not be interpreted as a trend,” because it responds to the fact that the deaths that occurred over the weekend cannot yet be counted and that they are gradually incorporated into the Civil Registry.
The death toll that will be located in this Wednesday’s report should reflect the more complete number of fatalities, the minister said.
“Today we report the deceased from the Civil Registry database of the last 24 hours and those who have appeared the previous days. Tomorrow we will indicate an “X” quantity, which is likely to be higher than today, having not only reported in the last 24 hours, but also patients who died over the weekend and who were enrolled the day Monday,” he added.
Some 23,000 cases remain active while 1,577 people have been hospitalized, with 364 in critical condition. According to the ministry, 313 ventilators are still available.
With a spike in new cases and its impacts on the Chileans, the government plans to proposes increase in emergency family income in the wake of coronavirus pandemic.
Emergency Family Income
Yesterday, Finance Minister Ignacio Briones met with parliamentarians from different sectors to publicize the Government’s plan to deal with the pandemic, which includes the injection of US$ 10 billion, along with other social measures, such as increase the amount and coverage of Emergency Family Income.
According to sources who attended the meeting, the details of which were published by the media on Tuesday, the Secretary of State proposed USD$3 million to face 2020, while the rest would point to 2021, with a focus on reviving employment.
The measures would also include improvements in Emergency Family Income, a measure that currently includes $ 65,000 initial and per person, a figure that will decrease in the next two months that includes aid.
In this context, El Mercurio indicated that the new amount would be around $80,000 and $90,000, and that these would not decrease during the course of it.
Likewise, the authority would increase the number of people benefited, including 80% of the country’s most vulnerable population.
Filipinos Keeping the ‘Bayanihan’ Spirit Alive in Chile amid COVID-19 Pandemic
Chile has one of the highest numbers of cases in Latin America, which has become an epicenter of the pandemic even as countries worldwide have begun to reopen. Brazil, Peru and Mexico have also been hard hit by the virus.
The country’s outbreak expanded in May, with an exponential increase in the numbers of infections and deaths. The capital and other hard-hit areas remain in lockdown.
This Tuesday at 22:00, the quarantine adopted for Calama and San Antonio will take effect, which have had a strong increase in positive cases.
