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The team ICovid Chile, an initiative led by the University of Chile, the Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and the University of Concepción, presented its report number 16, document that warns the increase in infections in five regions of the country.
According to the latest report, comparing the last with the penultimate week, the number of new cases nationwide grew by 13 percent, from 7.0 to 7.9 daily cases per 100 thousand inhabitants.
The experts detailed that “if the penultimate week is compared with the previous one, the new cases remained stable (growth of 0 percent). Taking into account that the most recent load data have a greater margin of errorIt will be important to see in the next report if the high growth rate observed this week continues. “
The regions that raised the alarm due to their increase in cases with statistically significant increases are the regions of Magellan (43%), The rivers (29%), O’Higgins (28%), The Araucanía (20%) and Metropolitan (twenty%).
On the other hand, charge levels remain at very high levels (red) in Arica and Parinacota, Tarapacá, Y all the regions of Ñuble to the south.
Given these figures, the academic from the School of Public Health of the University of Chile, Mauricio Canales, expressed his concern about a possible increase in interregional travel.
“In the north-central zone the situation is calmer, but tense before the arrival of the summer season, in which internal trips with danger of transmission increase from the areas of high prevalence to the currently quieter areas. We still have problems with traceability, but with room to improve with a responsible attitude of the population and an improvement in management “, he warned.
“We must not relax our behaviors or decrease perception of the risk that Covid-19 means“, maintained the academic.
Engel: As long as there is no vaccine “we must maintain self-care measures”
For his part, the engineer and academic from the Faculty of Economics and Business of the University of Chile, Eduardo Engel, explained that while there is no vaccine that can be applied massively in the country “we must maintain self-care measures“.
“This way we will prevent contagions from growing again in regions where they have reached intermediate levels (orange and yellow in ICovid signage) and we will contribute to reducing their level in regions where they currently have very high values (red in ICovid signage)”, argument.
As for the transmission indicator R “it remains in ranges that include values greater than one at the national level and in all regions, so that the corresponding signage remains in red at the national level and in each of the regions”, it is explained in the report.
Compared with the previous week, the R values at the national and regional level did not show significant variations, except in Magallanes, where it rose from 0.94 to 1.14.
Testing remains at adequate levels
In general terms, the testing has been at adequate levels for several weeks, with 11.92 and 11.75 per thousand inhabitants in the last two weeks reported and the indicator is in green in 11 regions of the country and in yellow from Coquimbo to Maule.
But nevertheless, the values are high from Biobío to Magallanes with 12.6 to 29.1 per thousand inhabitants per week. The positivity, meanwhile, has remained relatively stable with 4.34 percent (in yellow) nationwide, with values between 1.32 and 3.4 percent from Arica to O’Higgins, and a slight rise in Atacama (from 1.72 to 2.39 percent).
From the Maule region to the Magallanes region, positivities vary between 5.15 and 10.1 percent, with higher values in Los Ríos (19.1 percent) and Magallanes (9.8 percent).
In turn, ascents are detected in the Ñuble and Biobío regions, areas where “it would be convenient to increase the diagnostic effort with a greater number of tests,” the researchers detail.
Traceability remains stable but with a slight upward trend
Meanwhile, on issues of traceability, “early consultation remains stable, between 45.9 and 66 percent, with a trend slightly ascending. The proportion of reported by the laboratory within 24 hours remains relatively stable“is detailed in the report.
With regard to the traceability dimension, the report indicates that although there has been an improvement since the end of September in the proportion of those informed early, this has stabilized at values still insufficient for good case isolation ability.
A national average is observed close to 44.5 percent, with regions with low values such as Coquimbo (34.4 percent), La Araucanía (34.4 percent), Los Lagos (35.6 percent), Aysén (20.5 percent) and Magallanes (36.1 percent).
The lowest values are observed in La Araucanía (45.9 percent), Ñuble (48.9 percent) and Biobío (53 percent), which are also “regions of high positivity“is added in the report.
The proportion of those reported by the laboratory before 24 hours is in stable values close to 62 percent, but with cases where there seems to be a notable delay, such as Atacama (21.4 percent) and Los Lagos (26.1 percent).
“It highlights that La Araucanía has notably improved this aspect, going from 37.5 to 54.4 percent. This shows that these values can be improved, helping to achieve good traceability “, highlighted the ICovid Chile team.
“This indicator not only depends on the laboratory management, but also on managing people to take the quick test after being notified. We must insist on educating the population in places where consultation is low and improving the management of cases in laboratories, “added the researchers.
