LatinNews Daily - 08 July 2020

* Chile’s health minister Enrique Paris has announced that the government is working on “a plan to start gradually, little by little, step by step, moving forward on a future strategy of ending lockdown”. There are currently 63 municipalities under strict lockdown due to the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic in Chile, some since mid-May like the Santiago Metropolitan Region (RM), home to roughly 40% of the population. With the central bank (BCCh) predicting a 4.8% contraction in GDP this year, pressure is growing for economic activity to start up again in the country’s populous urban centres. But Paris has indicated that caution over the sanitary situation will prevail; while he spoke of a “slight improvement” in Covid-19 figures yesterday (7 July), notably in the RM, he also stressed that “no measure will be taken that could risk jeopardising the good news and the good numbers and figures that we have shown today.” According to the health ministry’s latest update, Chile reported 2,462 new Covid-19 cases yesterday, bringing the total to 301,019; and 50 deaths, bringing the total to 6,434 – but these figures are known to be under-reported.     

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