BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- Argentine president Alberto Fernandez asked residents on Saturday to stay at home, as cases and deaths from COVID-19 are on the rise in the country.
"Every 24 days, the number of deaths doubles, and we have to take that into account," the president told Buenos Aires-based radio station "El Destape." He added that the quarantine, which began on March 20, has been successful in allowing the country time to prepare for a larger number of cases, but that citizens must remain cautious.
"The only way to avoid infections is to stay at home. There is no other way, because when circulation increases, infections grow," he explained.
The Argentinean president stated that his administration had a set of plans to reactivate the post-pandemic economy, and he would "speak with the provincial governors to try to help the plans make a better regional impact."
According to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), the Argentinean economy could experience a drop of as much as 10.5 percent this year due to the pandemic.
Argentina, which recently extended the national quarantine to Aug. 16, has registered a total of 191,302 cases, with 3,558 deaths since its first case of COVID-19 was reported on March 3. Enditem
