Argentina surpasses 20,000 deaths, records new daily high of infections

Argentina reported a new record daily high of 14,687 new cases of coronavirus on Friday, pushing the total number of infections close to 800,000.

Health Ministry officials also confirmed that 312 fatalities had been recorded over the last 24 hours, raising the death toll to 20,599 deaths.

According to a tally kept by John Hopkins University, Argentina now ranks eighth globally for infections, and is back in 13th place for fatalities.

The highest number of new cases registered on Friday were in Buenos Aires Province (5,695 and 428,779 in total since the start of the pandemic), Santa Fe (2,244 and 46,715), Córdoba (1,776 and 37,945), Buenos Aires City (1,050 and 127,940), Mendoza (759 and 26,607) and Tucumán (674 and 16,220).

The Health Ministry said a total of 3,828 people infected with Covid-19 were currently in intensive care units (ICUS) nationwide, with bed occupancy in the units at 61.9 percent, rising to 64.7 in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA).

On Wednesday night, Covid-19 infections surpassed three-quarters of a million. Officials say around 25,000 tests are taking place each day.

The virus initially spread quickest in the AMBA region, but now focus is shifting towards several provinces that are recording higher numbers week-by-week.

At an event launching the government’s federal Dectectar programme in Santa Fe Province on Tuesday, President Alberto Fernández said that “65 percent of [new] Covid-19 cases were occurring in the interior of the country,” while “the AMBA [region] has been reduced to 35 percent.”