Argentina surpassed the grim tally of 10,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Monday, with the number of confirmed cases nearing 500,000.
The figures, confirmed by the Health Ministry in its daily update, underline the extent of the crisis in Argentina. The country now ranks among the top 10 globally for infections and is in 16th place for fatalities.
On Monday, 271 new deaths were recorded, lifting the overall count to 10,129. A total of 487,994 infections have been recorded, with 9,215 new cases in the last 24 hours.
Argentina has registered an average daily count of more than 10,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 last week.
Of the close to half a million total infections, around 85 percent are concentrated in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area (AMBA), where some 15 million of Argentina’s 44 million inhabitants live. In recent weeks, attention has turned to other provinces, such as Jujuy in the north and Mendoza in the west, where new outbreaks have been recorded.
Healthcare professionals have warned that intensive care units (ICUs) are increasingly feeling the strain. Officials said Monday that 61.9 percent of ICU beds are occupied nationwide, rising to 67.8 percent in the AMBA region. Doctors, however, warn the issue is more to do with staffing levels, especially with many health workers becoming infected themselves.
Source : SANA
