MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

No more quarantine for all of Chile starting Wednesday

Daza announced a shorter curfew for Antofagasta after meeting health requirements

Chilean health authorities have announced that no commune in the entire country will be under quarantine as of next Wednesday, as a part of the step-by-set program towards normalization.

The Health Ministry made the announcement Monday after 754 new cases of Covid-19 were reported, reaching a total of 1,629,932. In addition, 40 new deaths were reported in the country, adding a total of 36,420 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

The authorities have also laid out changes in the freedoms for those vaccinated and the establishment of two curfews to be applied in regions where contagions still call for those measures.

Several communes will be placed under the Transition phase on Wednesday, August 18 at 5:00 am, which represents progress for some and a setback for others. Nevertheless, events such as job fairs or wedding parties are allowed from Transition onward, provided sanitary restrictions are complied with.

Other communes will move to Preparation (or phase 3). Again, it means progress for some and setback for others. Phase 3 allows free movement without restrictions and increases capacity.

The same happens to communes to be under Phase 4, (or Opening) which maintains the freedom of movement of the Preparation stage, but increases the capacity in the permitted instances and establishments.

Chile is going through a steady decline in COVID-19 cases. With Monday's announcements, the Health Ministry was able to determine that the entire country has come out of the mandatory quarantine, while six regions will have all their communes in Initial Opening.

On the other hand, the Antofagasta Region will be able to start the curfew at midnight after fulfilling the two requirements: 80.1% of the population with its complete vaccination scheme and an incidence rate of 16.2 of active cases, Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza explained.

As of Wednesday, Atacama and Coquimbo will be among the regions with all of their communes in Initial Opening, joining Arica and Parinacota, Ñuble and Aysén.

With these changes, 55% of the total population of the country is governed under this new night-time restriction schedule.