Chilean health authorities announced on Wednesday the end of confinement in the center of Santiago, where it lasted nearly five months, after recording a drop in contamination. The center of the Chilean capital will end 143 days of confinement on Sunday to enter a phase of " transition ", before total deconfinement. In the transitional phase, all businesses are open, but only for residents of the neighborhood, and confinement remains in force on weekends. This relaxation was decided after an improvement in the epidemic situation. According to the Minister of Health Enrique Paris, in the last 24 hours, 1,540 contaminations and 27 deaths have been recorded.
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In total, the country of 18 million inhabitants has 351,419 confirmed cases and 10,205 deaths since the appearance of a first case on March 3. Including suspicious deaths, the number of deaths could reach 13,939. During April, faced with the acceleration of the epidemic, the government had first bet on massive screening and selective containment depending on the neighborhoods affected by outbreaks of contamination.
But faced with the runaway contaminations, especially in poor neighborhoods, he ended up resolving to impose full confinement in the capital in mid-May. Restrictions have since been partially lifted in other areas of Santiago. Chile is the fifth most affected country in Latin America in number of infections and deaths, according to statistics compiled by AFP from official reports.