Most Ibero-American nations are overwhelmed and straining to deal with an explosion of COVID cases, driven by the Omicron variant, which are burdening their inadequate healthcare systems and making it impossible to meet the huge demand for testing. Even Chile, with 92% of its population fully vaccinated, and preparing to begin vaccinating with a fourth dose next month, has been hit by the highest weekly rate of cases this week since last July, with a 103% increase over the previous week in the capital’s Santiago metro area. Curfews are being imposed in some countries with high infection rates, as in parts of Peru and Bolivia.
Argentina is leading the region with record-high infection rates—109,608 cases yesterday, up from over 90,000 the previous day and double the number seen on Dec. 31. Health Ministry chief of staff Sonia Tarragona admitted there’s no predicting what the ceiling of cases might be, as they just keep increasing. In 195,000 tests performed recently, the positivity rate was 56.20%. To date, the government had said it would not impose any new restrictions, given the ongoing successful vaccination campaign (82% fully vaccinated), but would reduce the timeframe between a second dose and a booster, from six to four months, so that more people can get boosted.
