Chile reported 26 new coronavirus related deaths until Thursday, the deadliest day on record since the pandemic broke out. Hence, the death toll reached 394.
Thursday also left 2,502 new Covid-19 cases, bringing the total of diagnosed patients to 39,542.
Health minister Jaime Mañalich asked for collaboration to all Chileans and described this crisis as the most serious in decades.
He also called for unity after Izkia Siches, president of the College of Surgeons, critised the Government and claimed that they can no longer “keep talking to a wall”.
“We need a more direct dialogue. I hope the president accepts the help that several groups have offered him, so many times”, she said.
Tonight, at 10pm, the Santiago province -the most populous area in the country- goes into lockdown for seven days as SARS-CoV-2 cases surge.
Meanwhile, the decision taken by the Santiago General Cemetery -Chile’s largest- to make way for extra tombs has shocked many and it even made Mañalich to lash out at the press.
A foreign news agency said that the cemetery braced for a health care collapse, which turned out to be partly wrong.
Luis Yévenes, president of the Union of Municipal Cemeteries, told Radio Bío Bío that 10 gravediggers dig 4 tombs every day.
Yévenes explained that this process is normal, but that it is currently happening under exceptional conditions.
It is usually carried out in Summer, after 5pm, with less units per worker, he said.
