MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Covid-19: Health official admits Argentina might need to extend restrictions beyond April 30

Medina said extending the current measures will require further evaluation.

A high ranking official within Argentina's Health Ministry Tuesday hinted the current restrictions on circulation and business hours might need “to be extended” because of the spread of the coronavirus' second wave.

Quality Health Secretary Arnaldo Medina admitted it was “probable” that the new restrictions due to the second wave of coronavirus “will have to be extended” beyond April 30, when the presidential emergency decree expires.

Medina warned the number of “cases will continue to increase” and further measures will be “evaluated according to the results obtained and the epidemiological situation.”

The official pointed out that the authorities' main concern at this stage was the availability of hospital beds, particularly those within Intensive Care Units (ICUs).

In that regard, Medina described the situation in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area (AMBA) as critical, with some hospitals already surpassing a 90% bed occupancy, which can at any given time lead to the collapse of the health system.

“What we are looking for is that this steep curve, with a notable difference from the first wave, with a much greater acceleration, begins to stabilize and level off at some point,” he said.

The official also highlighted the importance of the vaccination campaign, stressed that more than half of the population over the age of 70 has already been immunized and that a reduction in infections of older adults can already be seen in the curve, whereas the number of younger patients requiring hospitalization is on the rise.