Argentines urged to stay home amid new wave of COVID-19

BUENOS AIRES, April 14 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's Health Minister Carla Vizzotti on Wednesday urged people to limit their activity to just "essential" tasks, such as going to work or taking children to school, amid a new wave of outbreak of the novel coronavirus disease.

"We need to ask society to avoid any activity that is not a priority. Let's only go out to get to work, carry out essential activities, take the children to school," Vizzotti said at a press conference at the government headquarters.

The country is "at a critical juncture from a social and emotional standpoint," said Vizzotti, stressing "the situation is delicate" because the accelerated increase in cases has put the healthcare system under pressure.

Argentina reported 27,001 new cases of infection on Tuesday, the highest number seen in a single day since the onset of the outbreak in March 2020.

Some 2,579,000 people in Argentina have tested positive for COVID-19 and 58,174 people have died from the disease.

"We are making a huge effort to maintain as many activities as possible, maintain production and maintain (school) presence while we continue to vaccinate," she said.

Argentina began its vaccination campaign against COVID-19 on Dec. 29, applying 5,754,919 doses to date.