Chile’s healthcare system close to collapse due to COVID

Chile’s healthcare system is pushed to the limit due to the growing number of cases of coronavirus infection, President Sebastian Pinera said, Report informs referring to TASS.

“Chile has been hit hard by this repeated outbreak of the coronavirus. Our healthcare system is running at full capacity, but patients continue to receive the care they need,” he said at a press conference to mark the launch of the influenza vaccination campaign.

Pinera admitted that the government ‘made mistakes’ in the fight against the pandemic, but said the authorities ‘never underestimated the threat’ of the coronavirus.

The Chilean Ministry of Health said that 96 percent of the country’s intensive care units are occupied. Over the past day, Chile has recorded 5,807 new cases of coronavirus infection, and the total number of cases has reached 1,032,612. The number of deaths reached 23,677, of which 33 were recorded during the last 24 hours.