Venezuela Leads Region in COVID-19 Tests Per Million People

Venezuela has become the country with most screening tests for COVID-19 per million inhabitants in Latin America and the Caribbean, Minister of Communication and Information Jorge Rodriguez announced Tuesday.

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"Venezuela is the country in Latin America and the Caribbean that has carried out the most tests per million inhabitants. Today we are above 15,500 tests per million inhabitants," Rodriguez said during the meeting of the Presidential Commission for the Fight against COVID-19.

The official stressed that to date the proportion between the number of positive cases and the tests carried out is favorable for the country, which is why it is positioned as the leader in the region in carrying out tests. 

As of Tuesday, there are 329 cases and 10 deaths reported, the lowest numbers in Latin America. This is possible due to the social and voluntary quarantine decreed by the president when the first cases of infection were scarcely registered, making it the first country in the region to take such measures.  

Venezuela’s minister of communication said that if the containment measures for the coronavirus had not been taken the cases would have amounted to more than 300,000 with about 5,000 deaths.

Venezuela’s government performs the tests for free, contrary to countries like Chile or Ecuador tests are hard to come by and most people have to resort to paying for consultations and everything related to medical services.

For his part, the country’s President Nicolas Maduro explained that in the next phase of containment at least 10 million tests should be carried out and epidemiological control should be reinforced.