translated from Spanish: Chile reports a positivity of 1.78%, the lowest of the entire pandemic

The health authority on Sunday reported a positivity rate of 1.78% after conducting 59,375 PCR tests during the last day nationwide, the lowest rate of the entire covid-19 pandemic since its arrival in the country in March 2020.
A positivity rate (number of positive results per 100 tests performed) of less than 5% for two weeks in a row is one of the epidemiological criteria established by the World Health Organization (WHO) to bring the pandemic under control.
“The positivity in the Metropolitan Region remains at 2% and 15 regions have positivity less than or equal to 2%; of which Magallanes has 0%, while Antofagasta, OŽHiggins, Ñuble, Los Lagos and Aysén have 1%. The variation of new confirmed cases at the national level is -15% and -43% for the comparison of 7 and 14 days respectively, “said the Minister of Health, Enrique Paris.
The figures confirm the downward trend in new infections shown in recent weeks, which is why the Chilean government has relaxed mobility restrictions in different cities of the country, including the capital, Santiago.
In the new balance sheet of the Ministry of Health, 1,185 new cases were reported, reaching a total of 1.6 million people infected to date, of which 7,874 are in the active stage of the disease, that is, they have the capacity to spread the virus.
Critical beds across the country, which between April and July were close to collapse due to a serious second wave of infections, are now 86% covered with 1,370 people hospitalized, of whom 1,094 remain on mechanical ventilation.
Since April, Chile has kept its borders closed to foreigners and a curfew has been in force throughout the territory from 00.00 a.m. to 5.00 a.m.
In addition, the country has developed one of the most successful vaccination campaigns in the world, with more than 80% of the target population immunized, mostly with Coronavac doses from the Chinese laboratory Sinovac.
During this early morning, the authorities received a new shipment with 449,200 AstraZeneca vaccines, totaling more than 2.1 million doses imported from this laboratory.
In the coming weeks, Pfizer-BioNTech shipments are expected to arrive, adding to the total of more than 29 million vaccines purchased by the country.

Original source in Spanish