Chile ratified on Wednesday a device providing for the delivery of an official document to patients cured of the coronavirus, but it came back on its idea to make a certificate of immunity allowing it to circulate without hindrance.
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Health authorities had announced in early April their intention to issue people recovered from the coronavirus a certificate of immunity allowing them to circulate in areas subject to compulsory containment, while the country has implemented selective containment according to cities and most affected neighborhoods. But the establishment of such a document was postponed due to the persistence of questions about the immunity of people who were infected.
The Minister of Health, Jaime Mañalich said on Wednesday that in a first phase, the document would only be a certificate of cure. "It is a card that indicates that the person has already overcome the disease, without commenting on immunity," he said at a press conference. These cards will be released starting next week, he said. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently warned that there is "currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and who have antibodies are immune to a second infection."
She then clarified that she expected infected people to "develop antibodies that provide some level of protection" , adding that " what we don't know yet is what level of protection and how long it will last. " According to the latest official figures, Chile has 8,057 coronavirus patients, or 53% of those infected (14,885). The country, which has registered more than 200 pandemic-related deaths, announced on Wednesday the first death among health personnel, an employee of a family health center in the commune of Gorbea, in the south of the country.
