Argentina records a record number of new cases of Covid-19 in one day – News

Argentina recorded a record 42,032 new cases COVID-19 This Wednesday (29), it reached a total of 5,556,239 positive diagnoses, confirming the significant increase in infections the country is facing in a third national wave of the pandemic.

The number of confirmed cases today surpassed the previous record of 41,080 on May 27, when the second wave of Covid-19 peaked in Argentina. Meanwhile, according to the daily report of the Ministry of Health, the number of deaths rose today to 117,111, after 26 deaths were recorded during the past 24 hours.

According to official data, 5.2 million patients have already recovered from the disease, while the number of people diagnosed with Covid-19 who remained in the intensive care unit (ICU) reached 977 on Wednesday.

The percentage of intensive care beds occupancy for all types of illnesses is 34.9% nationwide and 36.3% if only Buenos Aires and the area close to the capital are considered. After months of a favorable epidemiological situation, in October the Argentine government eased a large part of the health restrictions in force until then, including the complete opening of the borders.

However, cases have started to rise again since November and at an astonishing pace in recent weeks. Today in a press conference, Argentine Minister of Health Carla Vizzotti said that the country has “begin” to go through the third wave of Covid-19 infections, with a sharp increase in cases, but not in the number of people hospitalized, thanks to the progress of vaccination.

Carla Vizzotti said the Micron variant has very high “transmissibility” but “lower lethality”.

“We are seeing a massive increase in the number of cases, especially in some jurisdictions with the circulation of the Ômicron variable, but at the moment we do not have a translation of this increase in the number of cases into an increase in intensive care, hospitalizations and deaths,” the minister said.

Vaccination progress

Meanwhile, the ArgentinaWith about 45 million inhabitants, the vaccination campaign against COVID-19, which began at the end of last year, is continuing. According to official data released on Wednesday, 75.6 million doses have been applied so far and 93.9 million doses have been distributed throughout the national territory.

In total, 38 million people have received the first dose of the vaccine, while 32.5 million have already been vaccinated with the second dose. Similarly, 2.4 million Argentines received an additional third dose and another 2.5 million booster doses, as part of a vaccination strategy that began in October to boost the immunity of several groups.

Carla Vizzotti highlighted that, today, one year after the start of the vaccination campaign in Argentina, 83% of the population has received at least one dose and 70% have already taken two doses.