SANTIAGO – The death toll from COVID-19, a novel coronavirus, has reached to 2 in Chile, the health authorities confirmed on Monday. The elderly patient had cancer.
Ministerio de Salud confirma fallecimiento de segundo caso de #COVID_19, corresponde a una paciente adulta mayor, que padecía de cáncer.
— Ministerio de Salud (@ministeriosalud) March 23, 2020
Lamentamos profundamente esta situación y hacemos extensivas las condolencias a toda su familia. pic.twitter.com/l6abs90cut
Yesterday, Chilean President Sebastian Piñera had confirmed the first death of an 83 year old woman due to COVID-19 in the South American country.
Con mucha pena lamentamos primer fallecido en Chile por Coronavirus. Sabemos q tienen temores y angustia frente a esta Pandemia. Queremos darles la tranquilidad q estamos haciendo TODO lo necesario de manera responsable, sin improvisar y siguiendo las guías de la OMS y la ciencia
— Sebastian Piñera (@sebastianpinera) March 21, 2020
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Coronavirus in Chile
Total Cases: 746
Recovered: 11
Active Cases: 733
Deaths: 2
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The Chilean Ministry of Health reported on Monday that a total of 746 people have been diagnosed with the disease. Eleven of them have recovered from the illness.
On Friday, the government ordered the closing of cinemas, theaters, restaurants, bars, and nightclubs across the country, as well as the suspension of all sporting events in order to curb the spread of the virus.
Last Thursday, Health Minister Jaime Mañalich had anticipated that by the end of the year the Chilean government projects more than 1.5 million infections.
“Positive cases are doubling every three days, more or less what we had anticipated,” explained the Health minister.
President Pinera previously declared a state of emergency in the capital of Santiago in October 2019 amid widespread protests and unrest following rises in the cost of living in the country, which severely affected his popularity among residents.
Globally, at least 188 countries have been affected, more than 15,500 people have died and over 360,600 infected by the disease as it spreads rapidly to new territories. The epicentre of the outbreak has now shifted from China to Europe, which is recording a rapid rise in new cases every day. A total of 100,658 people have also recovered from the mysterious illness.