SANTIAGO, Dec. 26 (Xinhua) -- The Chilean Ministry of Health reported on Saturday 2,564 new cases of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the last 24 hours, the highest daily number since July, which occurred amid a 37 percent rise in infections nationwide over the past two weeks.
Chilean Minister of Health Enrique Paris urged people in the country to follow health regulations and said that in the Metropolitan region, new cases of COVID-19 have risen 39 percent in 14 days.
The minister asked Chileans to comply with health restrictions during the holiday season after local media outlets reported crowding in shopping centers and in the streets during Christmas celebrations.
Chile has reported 598,394 cases of COVID-19 and 16,404 deaths, with 46 more deaths reported in the last 24 hours.
Some 700 patients were hospitalized in intensive care units (ICUs), with 546 on ventilators. Chilean Undersecretary of Healthcare Networks Alberto Dougnac said that health centers "have been preparing to face a second wave and have been considering the expansion of intensive care units."
Additionally, over the last day, another 48,273 PCR tests were performed, with a positivity rate of 5.31 percent, for a total of 6,309,588 tests administered since the first case of the virus was detected in the country.
Chile began the process of vaccinating health personnel against the virus on Thursday, with more than 5,000 hospital workers in the country receiving the vaccine against the disease so far. Enditem
