111-year-old woman in Chile is now oldest to survive coronavirus

A centenarian woman has become the oldest person to survive the novel coronavirus in Chile, despite two rounds of quarantine, the South American country’s National Service for Older Persons (Senama) said on Wednesday.

Juana Zuniga, who turns 112 in July, was one of 25 people who contracted Covid-19 in a care home in the capital Santiago, Senama said in a statement.

The woman, who has lived in the home since 2014, was placed in an isolation ward and cared for there for 28 days. On May 10, when she officially recovered, she became the oldest person in Chile to survive Covid-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus.

“What was done in this case was to reduce the density of residents,” said Pablo Pizarro, who is in charge of Senama’s Covid-19 strategy.

“Some were taken home by family members, others relocated to other areas of the home...this is how Juanita found herself in better conditions to face the disease and was able to successfully overcome the 28 days of quarantine,” Pizarro added.

Care home director Maria Paz Sordo said that aside from respiratory issues, the centenarian was healthy.

“She tested positive, but was asymptomatic, had few episodes of fever, which was very positive for her health,” Sordo said.

Chile on Wednesday extended quarantine measures in the greater Santiago area until June 5 as 4,328 new infections within 24 hours brought the total to 82,289 cases, the third-largest number in Latin America after Brazil and Peru. The death toll in Chile stands at 841.