Argentina, where the Omicron variant of Covid-19 has expanded since December, scored a new record of cases on Tuesday, with 134,439 infections, but also relaxed the isolation rules for those who received a third booster dose of vaccine.
“This is a completely different stage from the previous wave, not only in Argentina but in the world. We have 85% of the population with one dose and 74% with two doses, and 60% of the health teams and 40% of those over 60 years of age with booster doses ”said Health Minister Carla Vizzotti when making the announcement.
Those who have three doses of the vaccine and do not present symptoms will be exempt from complying with the isolation, in case of being in close contact with a positive. Until now, these people had to isolate themselves for five days.
Those not vaccinated, those who received a single dose or those who were vaccinated before August should be isolated for 10 days if they were in close contact with the infected. Those vaccinated with two doses will only have to isolate themselves and take a test between three and five days.
The Argentine Industrial Union this week asked the government to take measures to stop a 7.5% absenteeism caused by the close contact condition of at least 80 thousand workers from all over the country.
Also among health personnel, greater absenteeism is reported due to isolations due to Covid-19.
“Instead of concern about intensive care beds, we are concerned about absenteeism from work”Vizzotti stated in a radio interview.
With 45 million inhabitants, Argentina accumulates 6.5 million cases of coronavirus, and almost 117,600 deaths. This Tuesday he added 52 deaths.
The government maintains that despite the fact that the country is going through a spike in infections, which led from some 5,000 cases a day at the end of December to more than 134,000 this Tuesday, this has not translated into more deaths.
The occupancy of intensive care beds has increased slowly over the last few weeks and stands at 40%.
In the middle of the summer vacation season, with millions of Argentines moving through the main tourist centers, Test stations are still overwhelmed by the rapid spread of the Omicron variant.