A nurse prepares a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a vaccination site in Santiago, Chile, March 25, 2021. Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris announced on April 1 that current health restrictions will be tightened throughout the country, after Chile registered a new peak of COVID-19 infections and saw more than one million cases in total. (Photo by Jorge Villegas/Xinhua)
SANTIAGO, April 1 (Xinhua) -- Chilean Health Minister Enrique Paris announced on Thursday that current health restrictions will be tightened throughout the country, after Chile registered a new peak of COVID-19 infections and saw more than one million total cases.
The Health Ministry reported 7,830 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, which surpassed the previous record of 7,626 cases registered on March 26, bringing the accumulated total to 1,003,406, along with 193 more deaths, for a total of 23,328.
In a press conference, Paris said that starting Monday, non-resident foreigners will be prohibited from entering Chile for 30 days, with the exception of those authorized by the Chilean consulate in the country of origin based on health criteria issued by the ministry.
Travel abroad will also be restricted for 30 days for both Chilean citizens and resident foreigners, except for urgent and humanitarian reasons, health treatment or the proper functioning of the country.
Meanwhile, the curfew in place will be brought forward by an hour, to 9 p.m., while individual travel permits will be limited to two per week for quarantined towns.
In addition, starting Saturday, 19 more towns will enter quarantine, joining the more than 16 million residents already in confinement. Enditem
