CHILE.- The Government of Chile announced this Thursday that it will close its borders again throughout the month of April to try to contain the pandemic, which continues to break daily records and this day registered 7,830 new infections, exceeding one million total cases.
Travel abroad will be restricted throughout this month for both Chileans and foreigners residing in the country and can only be left with an extraordinary authorization for urgent and qualified humanitarian reasons, health treatments or essential steps for the proper progress of the country. .
This was explained to the press by the Undersecretary for Crime Prevention, Katherine Martorell, who announced that the entry of non-resident foreigners in Chile will be prohibited, also for 30 days, with the exception of those duly authorized by the Chilean consular authority in the country. originally.
Regarding trucks entering by land border, the driver will be required to have a negative PCR test of maximum 72 hours old.
“It is a time to take difficult measures, but we need everyone’s effort,” said Martorell, who also announced more restrictive measures to further reduce the movement of people.
NEW RESTRICTIONS TO DECREASE MOBILITY
The authority made a new definition of the goods and services that are considered “essential for domestic use” and that during the next 15 days will be the only ones that can be marketed in the total quarantine and weekend confinement zones.
«They are those goods or services that are intended to be used by people within the home (…) and that are essential for subsistence (food, medicine, hygiene items and personal hygiene), telework, distance education and conservation and security of the property “, he indicated.
During this time and in those quarantine zones, the retail sale of clothing and clothing accessories, footwear in specialized stores, the wholesale of perfumes, toiletries and cosmetics, among others, will be restricted.
To limit the movement of people in the quarantine zones, only two individual permits will be granted per week, of which only one of them may be used during weekends or holidays.
“With this, mobility can be reduced on weekends, in which it is understood that citizens have more social gatherings or visits to their families, an instance in which there is a greater risk of contagion,” the authorities explained.
Likewise, the curfew was brought forward throughout the country, which will be in force from 9:00 p.m. to 5:00 a.m. on Monday.
RECORD OF CONTAGES
The Undersecretary of Health, Paula Daza, announced today that in the last 24 hours there were 7,830 cases of covid-19, which is the highest number of the entire pandemic and with which the million total infections have been exceeded since it was confirmed the first case, in March 2020.
Of this accumulated, 42,915 are active cases, which marks a new record, as the number of people who are admitted to intensive care units also reaches a new ceiling, 2,729, a situation that puts hospital occupancy to the limit, which is at the 95% nationwide.
Regarding deaths, 193 new deaths were reported, bringing the national total to 23,328.
Despite the fact that Chile carries out one of the fastest and most successful vaccination processes in the world – it has inoculated almost 6.8 million people and is the third country with the highest percentage of vaccinated population – it has not been able to stop the spread of the virus and after the austral summer suffers the severe scourge of a second wave.
Right now, more than 83% of the population is in total quarantine, including the capital, where more than 7 million people live and all non-essential businesses remain closed.
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