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Reuters
Chile has confirmed more than 13,000 cases of Covid-19
The Chilean government has said it will go ahead with a controversial plan to issue certificates to people who have recovered from Covid-19.
The documents will be released to people so they can return to work, said Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has said that “there is no evidence” that people who get coronaviruses are immune to being infected again.
The agency said “immunity” certificates could help the virus spread.
Chile has reported 189 virus-related deaths and more than 13,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
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“There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” the WHO said in an information note on Friday.
The agency argued that so-called “immunity certificates” could even be harmful, as they could lead people to ignore public health advice and thus increase the risk of transmitting the disease.
However, MS Daza told reporters on Sunday: “One of the things we know is that a person who has had the disease is less likely to get sick again.”
He added that the certificates would not confirm that people had immunity to Covid-19, but would instead state that they had recovered from the disease and had completed an isolation period.
At least 200,000 people have died from the coronavirus worldwide, and many governments are now trying to find ways to ease their blocking restrictions.
