Coronavirus – Bolivia registers a record of cases and the head of Health studies his future in office after testing positive

MADRID, 16

The Bolivian Ministry of Health has added another 2,573 coronavirus infections to the total number of cases registered in the country this Friday, which represents a new daily record, while the Minister of Health, Édgar Pozo, has announced his positive for COVID-19 and study whether to stay in office.

Pozo, who is the fourth member of the president’s cabinet, Luis Arce, to become infected with COVID-19, announced this Friday that he is in treatment and in home isolation.

Although he has indicated that his state of health “is not bad,” he will follow all “the precautions that the protocol demands,” he explained in an interview with the Fides station.

Regarding his future in the Administration of Arce, Pozo has stressed that he will “analyze it well in the next few days”, since “I am not 40 years old, I am just over 70 and the conditions of a person my age who is studying this disease is of risk for the health in future “.

The head of Health had been presenting symptoms for five days, he detailed, which explains his absence during the signing of the contract for the acquisition of the AstraZeneca vaccine last Wednesday and in the ministerial cabinet headed by Arce this Friday.

REVIEW OF CASES

Today’s figures exceed the last record of January 8, when 2,263 cases were added, in the midst of the rebound in infections that the Andean nation is going through.

A large part of the new infections have been registered in the department of Santa Cruz -1,045-, well ahead of the second most affected territory, La Paz -598-. At the bottom is Tarija, the department with the fewest cases –37.

In addition, health authorities have confirmed the death of another 41 people due to the virus.

With this latest update of the figures, Bolivia adds 183,589 people infected with the coronavirus, which has left 9,571 fatalities so far.

In total, 142,279 patients have managed to overcome the virus in the Andean country, while, on the other hand, there are 31,739 cases that are still active and another 3,996 that are suspicious according to the Health portfolio.