MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay's Congress hit by coronavirus infections

It is too soon to speak of community circulation of Delta variant in Uruguay

A few Uruguayan lawmakers tested positive for SARS-Cov-2 forcing 48 people from the national Congress to go into isolation, it was reported Monday.

Of the 48 positive cases, 38 are legislators and employees of the opposition Broad Front (Frente Amplio), while the other ten is officials from the House of Deputies.

Deputy Margarita Libschitz and Juan Sartori's alternate senator, Juan Straneo, tested positive for covid-19, after which it was decided that Wednesday, Thursday and Friday half of the House officials attend so that “there is less mobility,” while all offices shall remain open.

Tuesday's session is expected to be “quick” so that there is a “minimum contact and circulation of people”, while Wednesday's debate has already been cancelled.

Topping Tuesday's agenda are the financing of the Coronavirus Fund and the extension of exemptions to companies affected by the pandemic.

Meanwhile, a case of the Delta variant of COVID-19 has been identified in the outbreak of the Hospital de Clínicas, which was announced by health authorities last Friday.

The Delta case confirmed by the Ministry of Public Health is among the three infections reported by Hospital de Clínicas Director Álvaro Villar last Friday.

The three samples of the Indian variant that were initially confirmed were analyzed in the Hospital de Clínicas' own laboratory, but the rest of the samples were sent to other MSP facilities for analysis and the results are not yet known.

Although some cases of the Delta variant have been detected in Uruguay, it is still too soon to speak of community circulation in the country, according to health authorities, since all cases were either people who had returned from abroad or close family contacts of them.