Argentina announced on Friday that COVID-19 restrictions have been extended till 21 May, President Alberto Fernandez announced new measures to contain the second wave of increased infections, with the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area being hit hard.
In a televised address the president stated the “priority is to take care of health and life”.
“We’re taking measures based on epidemiological and sanitary standards, considering first the number of cases within the population,” stated Fernandez.
He also urged citizens to remain at home and only depart their homes if it is “important”.
Under the new measures, Argentina will be divided into 4 zones of “epidemiological and sanitary risk” — ranging from “low, medium, high, and alarm”.
The president stated in the “areas of medium epidemiological and sanitary risk”, local authorities will have “the power and responsibility” to adopt extra measures to reduce the spread of infections.
With Fernandez noting the potential risk to the healthcare service, other than essential staff, no travel between 8 pm and 6 am is permitted – with school classes continuing online.
In high-risk areas, Fernandez has suspended a range of activities: social activities in private homes, social gatherings in public outdoor spaces with more than 10 individuals, and suspension of all casinos and discos.
According to local reports, the president is expected to include the new measures within the Decree of Necessity and Urgency (DNU).
On Thursday, the Ministry of Health announced a new daily death toll file with 561 deaths.
In recent weeks Argentina has been hard-struck by the second wave of infections, setting daily records. As a result, tighter restrictions had already been imposed, with health Minister Carla Vizzotti describing the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area as “the epicenter of the pandemic.”
On Thursday the percentage of total occupancy of adult ICU beds in Argentina stood at 68.4% however was higher in The Buenos Aires Metropolitan area at 76.6%.
According to the Ministry of Health data, around 7.eight million vaccine doses have been administered, with 6.8 million individuals receiving the first dose and 922,488 receiving the second dose.
As of Friday, Argentina, with a population of more than 45 million, has registered more than 2.9 million cases of the virus and 63,508 deaths.
More than 2.6 million patients have recovered.
