Covid-19 cases surge in Chile after ‘premature’ reopening
DOCTORS in Chile are accusing the government of creating a huge rise in Covid cases by reopening the economy prematurely, despite having one of the world’s fastest vaccination campaigns.
Daily infections are smashing records. Intensive care beds are again scarce and one hospital has run out of space in its morgue and is now storing bodies in the hallways.
The surge is so bad that President Sebastián Piñera ordered a new lockdown, covering 14million of the 19million citizens, and pushed back by-elections. Residents in lockdown are now allowed to leave home to buy food twice a week. Borders have been closed.
Chile’s experience is being viewed by public health experts as an example of what not to do for other countries ramping up vaccinations and hoping to swiftly reopen their economies.
The administration relaxed restrictions – in defiance of doctors’ warnings — as the vaccine rollout raced ahead of the rest of Latin America. Chile has now fully vaccinated 20 per cent of its population with two doses, second only to Israel, and far ahead of the UK.
In January, the government created a permit system to allow Chileans to once again travel around the country, allowing them to take summer vacations. In early March it reopened schools. It also failed to trace the influx of visitors after Chile reopened its borders, allowing the virus, including the more infectious strains, to spread.
“Of course, we’re celebrating the swift vaccination programme,” said José Miguel Bernucci, of Chile’s national medical association. “But we were emphatic in warning that this general reopening and economic reactivation would risk public health – and that is what has happened.
‘We warned that this general reopening would risk public health – and that is what has happened’
“We needed to wait, and now we are again in real difficulties.” Mr Bernucci added that the new lockdown was too “lax”. He questioned the inclusion of construction in the permitted list of essential activities: “Essential means the food supply and medical needs.”
The Piñera administration has been widely praised for its early procurement of vaccines. But herd immunity cannot come fast enough, particularly for Chile’s medical professionals. Roughly one in four are on leave, worn down by a year of Covid-19 patients.