First modification:
A foreigner from Ghana, Africa, tested positive in Chile for the Covid-19 Omicron variant. The country joins Mexico and Brazil among Latin Americans where there are records of the arrival of the variant, which was discovered by South African scientists and is already on the five continents.
Chilean health authorities reported that the presence of the Omicron variant was detected in their territory. The carrier person is a man who had come from Africa and is a copper producer.
The foreigner, who is a resident of Chile, arrived in the country on November 25 from Ghana, with a negative test for Covid-19 that had been taken recently.
“Upon arrival, a PCR was taken at the Santiago Airport. The test was positive and, as part of the travelers’ protocol, the sample was sent for the genomic sequencing process to the ISP to determine the variant, which turned out to be Ómicron, “said the secretary of the Valparaíso region through a statement. .
🚨 IMPORTANT: Seremi de Salud Región de Valparaíso press release for the first case of the Ómicron variant in Chile.
👇🏻👇🏻👇🏻 pic.twitter.com/MEhEpo7o4F– Seremi de Salud Valparaíso Region (@SaludSsrv) December 4, 2021
The secretary added that “the passenger, who had two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, is currently in good health and complying with his isolation.”
The authorities of the Ministry of Health of Chile reported the beginning of the epidemiological fence. Passengers who came on the same flight will undergo the PCR test to determine if they are infected with the virus.
Chile’s situation regarding the pandemic
Chile is among the five countries in the world with the highest vaccination rates, with 85.42% of people completely inoculated, according to data from the Johns Hopkins University.
Eight of the 19 million residents have already received the booster dose. According to the last data revealed by the Department of Statistics and Health Information of Chile, deaths caused by Covid-19 are on the decline, although in November there was a slight increase compared to the previous month: 497 people died from the virus.
Chile experienced the strongest peak of the pandemic between March and June of this year. During that period, the authorities imposed a generalized confinement on 90% of the population, but contagion levels have dropped considerably in the last three months.
As of December 1, there are new travel restrictions. Non-resident foreigners who have been in South Africa, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho, Eswatini and Mozambique in the last 14 days are prohibited from entering the country.
A vaccination passport or mobility pass is also active in Chile, which allows fully vaccinated people over 12 years of age to travel between regions, go to restaurants, gyms and events with and without public interaction.
Those over 45 years of age must have applied the booster dose and re-authenticate the health pass.
Fully vaccinated foreigners or residents can enter the country from October, but those who do not have a mobility pass will have to quarantine for seven days. Those who do have it must meet the same isolation period or wait for a PCR test to be performed and the result is negative.
Since the start of the pandemic in Chile there have been 1,768,584 infected and a total of 38,439 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
With Reuters, EFE and local media
.