BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Argentina will tighten pandemic lockdown measures to combat a severe second COVID-19 wave in the country, government sources said on Thursday, underscoring concern as daily cases and deaths have broken records over the last week.
The national government has decided that it is necessary to strengthen controls, one government source said, to prevent infections and stop the circulation of the virus. Intensive care units are filling up in regions around the country.
“This is the worst moment of the pandemic,” the person said.
Argentina posted 35,884 new cases on Thursday after hitting a record high 39,652 on Wednesday. Total infections number some 3.45 million, which puts the country ahead of hard-hit Brazil on a per capita basis. There have been 72,699 confirmed deaths.
A second source said that the exact measures were still being defined but were expected to come in from Saturday.
(Reporting by Nicolas Misculin; Writing by Aislinn Laing)
