COVID-19 THE CAPITAL OF CHILE RECONFINES

DESPITE 60% OF THE POPULATION VACCINATED

The intensive care units are saturated with patients and the number of cases has been on the rise for at least two weeks. The authorities ended up ordering a new re-containment for the entire Santiago region from Saturday, June 12. More than eight million inhabitants living in and around the capital are affected.

For several days, the Order of Physicians has been alerting and asking for more restrictions, especially in the capital where the situation is critical, as explained by its regional president, Francisca Crispi, in a video: “The intensive care beds are busy. 99%, that is to say 2,500 beds today. Unheard of in the country's history. "

These are mostly unvaccinated patients. Jeanette Vega, former Secretary of State for Health and consultant to the World Health Organization (WHO), explains one of the reasons for the current health situation: “The vaccine which is used here in majority, Sinovac , is very effective against severe cases and death, but less effective against contagion itself. And nearly half of the population still needs to be vaccinated. "

In downtown Santiago, the re-containment does not surprise anyone: a significant part of the capital was already confined.

At the beginning of April 2021 the capital had been deconfined but already on Thursday, April 29, 2021, Chile had recorded more than 6,800 new cases for 19 million inhabitants. The Head of State then announced that he wanted to set up a vaccination passport to allow residents who have already received their two doses of vaccine to have access to cultural places, for example..