SANTIAGO, March 31 (Xinhua) -- Chile's Health Ministry on Tuesday released its latest figures on the COVID-19 epidemic, showing 2,738 people have tested positive and 12 have died of the disease.
In the 24 hours since the last report, 289 new cases of infection were detected, and four patients, all "over 60 years of age and with preexisting ailments," passed away.
Of the existing cases, 138 patients are in intensive care units, 108 of whom are on respirators and 13 in critical condition.
The ministry has decided to extend a quarantine by two weeks in Rapa Nui, better known as Easter Island, and by a week in six districts of the metropolitan area of the capital Santiago, where more than half of the infections have been registered.
Chile closed its borders, suspended classes and called on the population to self-isolate at home in a bid to contain the epidemic.
