© Provided by Agencia EFE
Buenos Aires, Jan 17 (EFE) .- Argentina added another 102,458 new cases of covid-19 this Monday, with which the total number of positives amounted to 7,197,323, while the deaths rose to 118,231 following being informed of 191 deaths in the last 24 hours.
The figures mark a significant rise compared to the infections reported last Sunday, when 65,241 infections were registered, although on weekends the number is usually lower.
The positivity rate reported on this day for the country as a whole was 42.2%, since 242,247 tests were carried out throughout the national territory.
Although the percentage is decreasing, it is still well above the 10% recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO).
According to official figures, there are 6.1 million people who were infected and 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 Monday of 2,099, growing in recent weeks but below the maximum peak of 7,969 on June 14.
The percentage of bed occupancy in intensive care units for all types of pathologies is 43.2% at the national level and 42.9% if only Buenos Aires and its outskirts are considered.
After months of a favorable epidemiological situation, last October the Argentine government relaxed most of the health restrictions in force until then, including the total opening of the borders.
However, cases began to rise once more from November and at a dizzying pace in recent weeks, giving rise to a third wave of covid-19 in the country.
For this reason, the Argentine government imposed from January 1 the use of the health pass, which will require proof of complete vaccination schemes to be able to attend activities considered to be of “epidemiological risk”, such as massive events outdoors or in closed spaces.
Argentina, with some 45 million inhabitants, continues with its vaccination campaign once morest the coronavirus that began at the end of 2020.
According to official data from the health portfolio, so far 82.4 million doses have been applied and 93.8 million have been distributed in its 24 jurisdictions, of which more than 5 million were donated.
More than 39 million people received the first dose of the vaccine, while 34 million were already inoculated with the second.
Likewise, 2.9 million Argentines have received a third additional dose and another 6.4 million received a booster dose, within the framework of the vaccination strategy initiated in October to strengthen the immunity of various groups.
(c) EFE Agency