RAE ARGENTINA TO THE WORLD

RAE Argentina to the World presents: The Americas in the news

Bolsonaro says Brazil is "doing well" and is an "example" in the fight against the coronavirus

Brazil's president, Jair Bolsonaro, said on Monday that the country is "doing well" and is an "example" for the world in dealing with the pandemic, without mentioning the ongoing collapse of the country's health system.

"We are doing well despite the very serious problem we have been facing since last year. But even so, Brazil has been setting an example. We are one of the few countries that is at the forefront of the search for solutions" Mr. Bolsonaro said in a speech at the Planalto Palace, the Brazilian seat of government.

The statement comes as Brazil has become the global epicentre of the Covid-19 pandemic, with more than 2,000 deaths a day on average over the past seven days and 24 of the 26 states and the capital, Brasilia, in a state of sanitary collapse with lockdowns and curfews imposed locally.

Brazil has accumulated some 12 million positive cases and exceeded 294,000 deaths. Nevertheless, Bolsonaro asserts Brazil is the fifth country in terms of vaccination, with more than 11 million doses applied since 17 January.

 

 

 

Nearly 14 million people in Chile to be once again in lockdown

Almost half of capital Santiago's 52 neighborhoods and nearly 14 million people across Chile will again be under lockdown as from Thursday due to the alarming rise in cases over recent days, the government announced on Monday.

"Cases continue to increase on a national level, we have to keep that in mind," said Health Minister Enrique Paris, after 6,155 new cases and 80 new deaths from the virus were reported in 24 hours. With this new report, the country now has 938,094 confirmed cases and 22,359 deaths.

The government announced the suspension of temporary travel permits for weekends and public holidays from Saturday 27 March. It also stressed that Chile, despite the spike in cases, is "in first place worldwide in terms of vaccination, ahead of the United Arab Emirates, Israel and the United States".

 

Cuba to test its locally-produced vaccine on 150,000 volunteer health workers

About 150,000 health workers will receive a jab of the Soberana 2 vaccine, Cuba's most advanced experimental vaccine, as from this week, the Caribbean nation's health ministry said in a statement.

Cuba's drug regulatory agency announced it was testing the Soberana02 in populations at risk of infection, disease and epidemic spread, the ministry tweeted.

Cuban scientists are working on four coronavirus vaccine candidates: Soberana 1 (in phase 2), Soberana 2 (phase 3), Abdala (phase 3) and Mambisa (in phase 1).

Cuba has set a target of vaccinating its entire population of 11.2 million this year, and expects to complete the 33 million doses required by August, according to scientific sources, taking into account three doses per person.

 

Ecuador: candidates for presidential run-off guarantee to keep the US dollar as the country's main currency

Presidential candidates Andrés Arauz and Guillermo Lasso agreed on that last Sunday, during a debate ahead of the 11 April vote.

Arauz, of the Union for Hope (Unes) platform, won 33 per cent of the vote in the 7 February first round election, and will Lasso, of the Creating Opportunities (CREO) movement, who won 20 per cent in the run-off

The Unes candidate, backed by former president Rafael Correa (2007-2017), and the centre-right Lasso said they would strengthen dollarisation, which has been in place since 2000. The debate was held ahead of the second round of elections on 11 April.