MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Covid-19 contagion leads to the appointment of a Magallanes Region new governor

Punta Arenas has undergone a peak of Covid 19 cases and deaths, in spite of a lockdown with some 1,464 active cases and 65 deceased.

The Chilean government appointed Jennifer Rojas as new governor of the Magallanes and Antarctic Region, following the ousting of Jose Fernandez, who had been in the post since February 2019.

According to the official report from the Home Ministry, Fernández presented his resignation on Monday, which was accepted by president Sebastián Piñera. However the ousted former governor was quoted by the Punta Arenas media saying he “was asked to resign”, apparently because of the quick expansion of the coronavirus in the Magallanes Region.

In effect, Punta Arenas has undergone a peak of Covid 19 cases and deaths, in spite of a lockdown with some 1,464 active cases and 65 deceased, which proportionally is higher than in the Santiago metropolitan area. .

Jennifer Rojas is scheduled to take office this Tuesday. She was head of the region's public security cabinet post. According to the released background, Ms Rojas attended the University of Magallanes where she specialized in social studies. She also has a degree on Human Resources from the University of Egana and a Masters in Social Mediation in Family Conflicts from the University of Chile.