People wearing face masks take a walk during a lockdown in Santiago, Chile, May 19, 2020. (Photo by Jorge Villegas/Xinhua)
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said that the nation has entered a new phase of the pandemic, and announced new sanitary and economic measures to support the country's poor as well as small and medium-sized companies.
SANTIAGO, May 23 (Xinhua) -- The Chilean Ministry of Health confirmed on Saturday that the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the country had reached 65,393, with 673 deaths.
Of the number of new confirmed cases, 3,237 presented symptoms while 299 were asymptomatic.
Deputy Secretary of Health Arturo Zuniga stated that 1,062 people have been hospitalized in intensive care units, with 900 of them on ventilators, leaving 336 ventilators available to the public and private health networks.
Zuniga said that hospitals have an occupation rate of 85 percent at the national level, and 94 percent in the Santiago Metropolitan Region.
"The armed forces, private institutions, and public hospitals are doing their utmost to continue increasing their intensive care units with the aim of continuing to care for hospitalized patients whose numbers, due to higher levels of contagion, will continue to increase in the coming days," said Zuniga.
The deputy secretary added that 15,239 PCR (polymerase chain reaction) tests were carried out in the last 24 hours. A total of 457,332 tests have been performed since the disease was first detected in the country in March.
The capital of Santiago is currently under total quarantine until May 29, affecting around seven million people.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera said that the nation has entered a new phase of the pandemic, and announced new sanitary and economic measures to support the country's poor as well as small and medium-sized companies. ■