Chile reaches 5,688 deaths from coronavirus, total cases rise to 279,393

During a daily briefing on Tuesday, Health Minister Enrique Paris once again highlighted an “incipient improvement” in the country, especially in the Metropolitan Region and Tarapacá.–Photo by Minsal

SANTIAGO – Chile’s Ministry of Health on Tuesday said that the total number of deaths from the coronavirus (COVID-19) has reached 5,688, while total number of infections rose to 279,393 since the outbreak started in March.

According to the ministry, 3,394 new cases of the coronavirus were recorded in the last 24 hours, while 113 new fatalities were registered in the Civil Registry.

Of these new cases, 2,690 were symptomatic, 338 asymptomatic and 366 with positive PCR not reported to Minsal.

Health undersecretary Paul Daza highlighted that there are 2,106 hospitalized in the South American country, 1,756 on mechanical ventilation and 398 in critical condition.

The official added that 13,349 PCR tests were carried out in the country, reaching a total of 1,109,792.

Of the total contagions, he added, some 32,476 are considered as active cases.

During a daily briefing, Health Minister Enrique Paris once again highlighted an “incipient improvement” in the country, especially in the Metropolitan Region and Tarapacá.

29th Epidemiological Report

Yesterday, the Ministry of Health published the 29th Epidemiological Report detailing the state of the coronavirus in the country, which collects data until 7:00 p.m. on June 26.

The report detailed that the number of confirmed and suspected deaths from COVID-19 reaches 8,935.

Pandemic “not even close to ending”

Meanwhile, World Health Organization (WHO) director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said the coronavirus pandemic is far from coming to an end any time soon.

“This is not even close to ending, ” Tedros said during a press conference in Geneva on Monday.

“Although many countries have made progress around the world, the pandemic is actually accelerating. We are all in this together and we are in this for the long term,” said Tedros. “We have already lost a lot, but we cannot lose hope.”

Tedros also said Tuesday marks six months since the WHO first received reports of cases of pneumonia in China from an unknown cause, which would later be identified as caused by a new coronavirus infection.

“The six months of the outbreak coincide with reaching 10 million cases and 500,000 deaths,” Tedros said.

COVID-19 pandemic yet to peak in the Americas, warns WHO

According to the John Hopkins University registry, so far there are 10,302,867 infected. The leading country is the United States with 2.5 million cases. It is followed by Brazil, which already has more than 1.3 million infected.