The figures of contagion by Coronavirus are again on the rise. According to the official report of the Ministry of Health (Minsal), there is about a 25% increase in cases in the last two weeks and a 15% positivity of PCR tests.
Marcelo Alarcón, an academic at the Department of Clinical Biochemistry and Immunohematology of the University of Talca, explained that this increase is due, in part, to the winter recess of school establishments.
According to the statements of the specialist, unlike the previous weeks, “with the return to school there are a large number of people who now circulate in commerce, in the streets, collective locomotion and in schools.”
“This has resulted in the increase in cases and we have had contagion values over 10,000 and even 11,000 cases,” he said.
The academic said that there is an erroneous sense of security in the population: “People falsely believe that the pandemic is over, but, on the contrary, new variants are being generated and cases are increasing.”
Low vaccination
Another relevant factor that has caused an increase in the figures is the current low vaccination against the Coronavirus. “We accumulate about 3 million people who are not vaccinated or are lagging behind with their scheme,” he said.
For that reason, the UTalca teacher called on people to catch up with the inoculation plan decreed by the health authorities. “Let’s remember that finally the vaccine prepares us for an infection, in this case against SARS CoV-2, and that the immune system is stimulated.”
In the same vein, he recalled that after six months of administering the last dose of the vaccine, antibody levels drop, leaving the person more exposed to a possible contagion. This would be the reason why a fifth dose of vaccines has already been decreed in Chile.
“The Minister of Health has indicated that it should soon be revaccinated and that it will begin with the groups at greatest risk, that is: children, people who have concomitant diseases and older adults. The general population would still be on hold,” he said.
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