Chile

SANTIAGO, June 14 (NNN-PRENSA LATINA) – Chilean President, Sebastian Pinera, accepted on Saturday, the resignation of Health Minister, Jaime Manalich, amid criticism from civil organisations and opposition figures, for his management of the coronavirus pandemic in the country.

The president said, “Dr. Jaime Manalich gave all his effort and put off all his legitimate personal interests to concentrate all his time and energy to give the best of himself in the difficult and noble task of protecting our lives and our health.”

SANTIAGO, June 12 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chile on Thursday exceeded 154,000 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus and 2,600 deaths, one hundred days after the outbreak began and with the health service straining under massive admissions numbers.

“It has been a very hard 100 days,” health minister Jaime Manalich told reporters in the capital Santiago. “June is going to be the toughest month in the fight against the disease.”

Health authorities reported 154,092 cases and 2,648 deaths so far.

SANTIAGO, May 22 (NNN-AGENCIES) — The economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has left an extra 11.5 million people unemployed in Latin America, the United Nations and the International Labour Organization said.

The new estimate from the UN’s Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) and the ILO would mean a total of 37.7 million people in the region are now unemployed.

SANTIAGO, May 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Police and protesters clashed in Santiago amid a city-wide lockdown meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus as local officials warned that food shortages had hit one of the Chilean capital’s poorest neighborhoods.

A group of protesters threw rocks, shouted and burned piles of wood along a street in the destitute neighborhood on Santiago’s southern fringe. Images on social media and local television showed police spraying tear gas and water cannons to disperse the growing crowd.

SANTIAGO, May 19 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Around half of Chile’s 50-member senate and four ministers have been placed in quarantine after coming into contact with at least three colleagues infected with the novel coronavirus, officials said.

Finance Minister Ignacio Briones and Chief of Staff Felipe Ward both wrote on Twitter that they had tested negative for the virus but were in quarantine until a second test is conducted.

19 May 2020; AFP: Around half of Chile's 50-member senate and four ministers have been placed in quarantine after coming into contact with at least three colleagues infected with the novel coronavirus, officials said Monday, as jobless protesters in a poor area of Santiago clashed with police to demand food aid.

Finance Minister Ignacio Briones and Chief of Staff Felipe Ward both wrote on Twitter that they had tested negative for the virus but were in quarantine until a second test is conducted.

SANTIAGO, May 14 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Chile ordered a mandatory total quarantine for the capital Santiago’s seven million people after authorities reported a 60 per cent spike in coronavirus infections in 24 hours, dealing a stunning blow to hopes the economy would soon reopen.

“The most severe measure I must announce is a total quarantine in Greater Santiago,” the location of 80 per cent of the country’s 34,000-plus confirmed cases, Health Minister Jaime Manalich said.

5 April 2020; AFP: With historically low river flows and reservoirs running dry due to drought, people in central Chile have found themselves particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus pandemic.

Years of resource exploitation and lax legislation have allowed most reservoirs in that part of the country to run dry.

SANTIAGO, Feb. 25 (Xinhua) -- Forest fire "Agua Fria" in central Chile's Maule region has destroyed 8,350 hectares of natural and cultivated land, the National Forest Corporation (CONAF) said Tuesday.

The fire, starting on Feb. 9, is raging just a few kilometers from the Radal Siete Tazas National Park, which has been closed even amid the high season for travelers. It has been the worst forest fire of the summer months in the Southern Hemisphere and one of the worst in Chile's history.

SANTIAGO, Feb. 23 (Xinhua) -- Chile's President Sebastian Pinera on Sunday said his government is ready to maintain "law and order" during protests planned for March.

"Many are expecting a violent March. The government has prepared to safeguard law and order, and promote a March of agreements," Pinera said via Twitter.

Referring to widespread demands for improvements in government services, he said that "to increase pensions, create a guaranteed minimum wage and improve healthcare, agreements, not violence, is the way."