Next Saturday, April 1, the change in the time zone will take effect throughout the country, with the exception of the Magallanes region. For the rest, the clocks must be delayed 60 minutes in order to start the so-called “winter time”. The Ministry of Health recommended ending the measure.
This, after the various changes that occur in the human body due to the change in time, which, among other things, can cause anxiety, stress, fatigue and insomnia. However, the Minsal points out that it does not depend exclusively on them to be able to end the measure.
The head of the Ministry of Disease Control and Prevention Division, Fernando González, clarified that “from the health sector we have made this evaluation and we have recommended that this time change not be continued in the first instance, but this does not depend only on the health issue, but it also depends on other agencies and other ministries that, naturally, are also affected by daylight, street safety”.
“There is no definition regarding which is the best schedule, whether summer or winter, because each one has its pros and cons. But we have recommended, from the point of view of health and people’s health, that it is best to maintain a single schedule, without changing it twice a year,” added the authority of the Minsal.
Once the time change occurs, Chile will have the UTC-4 time zone until October 8, when clocks must be advanced one hour to return to the so-called “summer time”, UTC-3 time zone.