Chile sets new record for daily COVID-19 cases

SANTIAGO – Chile registered 14,780 COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours, a new daily record fueled by the Omicron variant of the virus, for a total of 1,984,190 cases, the Ministry of Health said Monday.

In the same period, according to the ministry’s daily report, 23 deaths associated with COVID-19 were recorded, bringing the death toll to 39,535.

Currently, there are 66,738 active cases in the South American country, an unprecedented number, the ministry added.

Read more: Chile sees record number of daily COVID-19 cases for third straight day

However, the surge in cases due to the Omicron variant has not led to an increase in hospitalizations, the health ministry pointed out.

In the last day, the COVID-19 positivity rate was 13.66 percent nationally, the highest in recent months, and 13.68 percent in the Santiago Metropolitan Region.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 infections have risen 323 percent in two weeks, with none of the country’s 16 regions showing a decrease in new cases in that time.