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This South American country is registering up to 30,000 cases in 24 hours. The numbers are four times higher than those recorded two months ago.
Argentina's Health Ministry on Sunday warned that Buenos Aires City's healthcare system is close to collapse, with the almost total occupation of intensive care unit (ICU) beds in the private and public sector.
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For the third week in a row, bed occupancy in the city's 66 private clinics and sanatoriums is between 95 and 100 percent, according to the Private Doctors Association (AMAP).
In the state-run hospital network, ICU bed occupancy has reached 79.7 percent. Only 91 of the 450 beds for critically ill patients remain available.
Health authorities informed of the suspension of non-urgent surgical operations in private clinics and sanatoriums for the next 30 days. Public clinics also will prioritize the hospitalization of COVID-19 patients.
#Argentina | Teachers' unions announced a strike due to the return to on-site classes in Buenos Aires despite a presidential decree establishing new restrictions to halt the spread of COVID-19.https://t.co/dvILWKT9G6
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) April 19, 2021
"We started enabling other spaces within hospitals to add intensive care beds," Cabinet chief Santiago Cafiero said and assured that Argentina is facing the third wave of contagions.
Alarms have been ringing nationwide as the country is registering up to 30,000 cases in 24 hours. The numbers are four times higher than those recorded two months ago. Since March 2020, Buenos Aires has counted over 560,000 COVID-19 cases and over 10,000 deaths from the disease.
As of Sunday, over 7 million Argentines had been vaccinated. Some 6.32 million received one COVID-19 vaccine dose, and 872,133 have already been immunized with the second dose.
#Argentina | The Mapuche people warn that the fracking has irreversibly damaged their ancestral homelands. pic.twitter.com/N0YvD45h4x
— teleSUR English (@telesurenglish) December 14, 2019
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