Argentina once again exceeds 130,000 infections by COVID-19

Argentina surpassed 130,000 new cases of coronavirus for the second consecutive day since the pandemic began, amid the start of the “third wave” that is marked by the appearance of the omicron variant.

According to the latest numbers from the Ministry of Health, the South American country registered 131,082 new infections, bringing the total number of positives to 6,664,717, while deaths rose to 117,670, after 75 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours .

These figures mark a slight decrease compared to the positives reported last Tuesday, when 134,439 cases were reported.

The positivity rate reported on this day for the country was 66.1%, since 198,160 tests were carried out throughout the national territory, well below the 10% recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).

According to official figures, there are 5.7 million people who were infected and who have already been discharged, while the number of patients with a confirmed diagnosis of COVID-19 who remain admitted to intensive care units was this Wednesday of 2,206. Although the number of internees continues to grow, it is still below the maximum peak of 7,969 on June 14.

The percentage of occupancy of beds in intensive care units for all types of pathologies is 39.5% nationwide and 40.4% if only Buenos Aires and its periphery are considered.

After months of favorable epidemiological situation, last October the Argentine government relaxed most of the sanitary restrictions in force until then, including the total opening of the borders.

However, the cases began to rise again since November and at a dizzying rate in recent weeks, leading to the “third wave” of COVID-19.

For this reason, the Argentine government imposed the use of the health pass from January 1, which will require proof of complete vaccination schedules to be able to attend activities considered to be of “epidemiological risk”, such as mass events outdoors or in closed spaces.

Argentina, with about 45 million inhabitants, continues with its vaccination campaign that began at the end of 2020.

The vaccination bulletin so far recorded 80.6 million doses applied and more than 99 million have been distributed throughout the national territory.

A total of 38.7 million people received the first dose of the vaccine, while 33.6 million were already inoculated with the second.

Likewise, 2.8 million Argentines have received a third additional dose and another 5.3 million received a booster dose, within the framework of the vaccination strategy that began in October to reinforce the immunity of various groups.