During the Covid-19 assessment this Thursday, the Minister of Health, Enrique Paris, referred to the rumors that speak of the existence of underreporting of the total number of Covid-19 cases in our country, due to the testing capacity that Chile has.
When asked about the figures that are delivered daily, the authority indicated that “it is obvious that there is an underreporting, it is obvious that we cannot detect everyone, because to detect all those who have the virus, symptomatic and asymptomatic people, we would have to test the whole country.
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“I understand the doubt, but when the doubt is added to an intention to harm, to cause concern in the population, I do not accept it,” the health authority responded angrily.
“It is obvious that when we have a 20% PCR positivity, there are a number of people that we cannot detect, but that should not be as a criticism, as something negative, it is a fact of the cause,” he added.
Regarding this point, Paris expressed that “in no country in the world are so many exams carried out, in no Latin American country are they carried out as in Chile, and you have heard that many countries such as Sweden, Finland, Denmark, England and Korea are going to abandon the I test because they are no longer able to do so”.
“This is not the time to leave the masks”
The secretary of state also pointed out that they rule out relaxing self-care measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic, after the decisions made by European nations, such as the United Kingdom.
“The impact of the Omicron variant has been tremendous throughout the world,” highlighting that “people who enter hospitals are people who have not been vaccinated or have not completed their program,” he said.
In this sense, he maintained that “the incidence of ICU cases is clearly reduced for those who complete their vaccination schedule together with their booster dose.”
“This is not the time to give up masks or relax self-care measures. It is essential to continue taking care of ourselves,” assured the Secretary of State.
The head of the Minsal stressed that “the new confirmed cases have been gradually decreasing. This does not mean that the pandemic is over, only that the cases are gradually falling.
“Our call is to continue going to the vaccination sites to be inoculated with the fourth dose. It is essential to continue complying with the scheme, ”he sentenced.
