Uruguay races to control outbreak of COVID-19 on border with Brazil

Source: Xinhua| 2020-10-22 06:54:57|Editor: huaxia

MONTEVIDEO, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- Uruguay will step up prevention measures to control an outbreak of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the northern city of Rivera, located on the border with Brazil, health authorities announced on Wednesday.

Health Minister Daniel Salinas explained at a press conference that authorities have put a number of protective health measures in place in the area and plan to observe "how the epidemiological situation evolves".

Locals will be asked to avoid public events, public parties and crowds, hospitals will postpone non-emergency surgical operations, and business owners will need to take precautionary measures such as limiting store capacity.

Salinas reported that so far, 90 percent of the cases have been identified by the team in charge of tracking infections, whose operational capacity has been greatly strengthened by the new measures.

The department of Rivera has reported 123 of the 429 currently active cases in Uruguay and has the highest rate of infection in the country.

On Tuesday, Uruguay registered 64 new cases, the highest daily number, bringing the total number of cases to 2,623, with 52 deaths. Enditem

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