Chile registers 22,192 new daily COVID-19 cases

SANTIAGO – Chile registered 22,192 new COVID-19 infections and 12 more deaths from the disease in the last 24 hours, for a total of 2,190,561 cases and 39,733 deaths, the Health Ministry said Tuesday.

The national COVID-19 positivity rate for the same 24-hour period was 21.12 percent, one of the highest in the pandemic, while in the Santiago Metropolitan Region it was 20.59 percent, the ministry said in its daily report.

The South American country recorded an increase in COVID-19 infections of 233 percent in 14 days, as well as 87 percent in seven days, according to the official report.

Read more: Chile sees another record number of daily COVID-19 cases

Moreover, it has registered historic peaks of infections in recent weeks, with over 30,000 cases in one day and more than 110,000 active cases, driven by the spread of the Omicron variant of the virus.

In the last few days, Chile has seen an increase in both the number of patients admitted to intensive care units and the number of deaths, compared to December.