The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic was confirmed to have reached Chile in March 2020. As of March 2020[update] there is a considerable COVID-19 outbreak in Chile. While initial cases had been imported from South East Asia and Europe, they expanded into a sizeable quantity of untraceable infections, placing the country within phase 4 of the pandemic as defined by the WHO, and surpassing a thousand confirmed cases in 25 March 2020. The potential for an increase of Coronavirus cases in Chile is vast, especially given the continuing mass protests.
3 March 2020: The Minister of Public Health confirmed the first case of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in Chile, thus making the country the third in Latin America to report such an instance after Brazil and Argentina,[3][4] the latter reporting its first case a few hours prior. Patient zero is a 33-year-old man in the city of Talca.[5]
4 March 2020; The regional secretary (Seremi), Marlenne Durán, confirmed the second case of COVID-19 in the country. The new patient being the wife of the 33-year-old doctor who was diagnosed positive the previous day.[6] The same day, the Ministry of Health confirmed a third case in Santiago; a 56-year-old woman, who returned to Chile after traveling to Europe, where she visited several countries, including Italy.[7]
5 March 2020: The Public Health Institute (ISP) confirmed a fourth case in Santiago; a 40-year-old woman who entered Chile on 29 February from Italy.[8]
6 March 2020: The Ministry of Health confirmed a fifth case in Santiago; a 58-year-old man who travelled to Europe alongside patient n°3.[9]
7 March 2020: The Ministry of Health confirmed a sixth case; a 17-year-old male related to patients n°3 and 5 who travelled to Europe alongside them.[10] Later that same day, a 20-year-old woman from Puerto Montt was confirmed as the 7th case in the country.[11]
8 March 2020: 3 more cases were confirmed; an 83-year-old woman who contracted the virus from a family member that visited her from New York, who in turn, later presented symptoms and was diagnosed with COVID-19 upon arrival to the United States[12] (Possibly making this the first infection to occur entirely within Chilean soil); a 39-year-old man from Talca related to the 1st and 2nd cases who had contracted the virus via contact with them,[13] and a 14-year-old male who travelled to Europe with patients n°3, 5 and 6.
9 March 2020: The Ministry of health reported 3 new cases; a 42-year-old man from Santiago, a 2-year-old infant belonging to the Maule cluster and a 38-year-old man from Concepción, marking the first case within the Biobío Region. Along with the news, the Ministry of Health announced that it will start reporting new cases on a daily basis instead of one-by-one as they get confirmed.[14][15]
10 March 2020: 4 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 17; 5 of which belong to a small cluster from San Benito school in Vitacura that can be traced to a family who had travelled to Europe, as well as a man who had contact with a person who had recently been to Spain. The infected students have been quarantined and the Ministry of Health has placed the school under observation.[16]
11 March 2020: 6 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 23. Among the infected, 14 reside in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, becoming the first region in Chile to surpass ten confirmed cases.[citation needed]
13 March 2020: 9 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 43.[20]Saint George's College began a 15-day quarantine period after a teacher tested positive to the virus.[21]
14 March 2020: 18 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 61.[22] The Ministry of health detailed that there are four new cases in three regions, which are Antofagasta (2 cases), Atacama (1) and Aysén (1), the latter being an 83-year-old British tourist aboard a cruise ship that landed in Coyhaique after showing symptoms of COVID-19, having previously disembarked in Caleta Tortel. The rest of the 14 new cases of COVID-19 infection are located in the Santiago Metropolitan Region (11), Maule (1) and Ñuble (2).[23]
15 March 2020: 14 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 75.[24]
16 March 2020: 81 new cases were confirmed in a single day, bringing the total up to 156. According to the definition of the Health Organization (WHO), the start of stage 4 of the pandemic has been initiated.[25]
17 March 2020: 45 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 201.[26] It was also determined that the virus spread through the +20 cases cluster in Chillán via direct and indirect interpersonal contact within a gym, which was later closed and sanitized. Its users have been placed in quarantine.[27]
18 March 2020: 37 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 238.[28] The Maule region became the third to surpass 10 cases.[citation needed]
19 March 2020: 103 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 342.[29] The same day, patients zero and 1 (The 33-year-old man from Talca and his wife, both who had travelled to Southeast Asia) were ruled as healthy and sent back home to begin a post-recovery quarantine.[30]
20 March 2020: 92 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 434.[31]
21 March 2020: 103 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 537 nationwide. Health Minister Jaime Mañalich confirmed the first death derived from coronavirus infection in Chile; an 83-year-old woman from Santiago.[32]
22 March 2020: 95 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 632. Nationwide wide night time curfew was imposed.[33]
24 March 2020: The first case in Easter Island (Rapa Nui) is reported, despite the lockdown established on 19 March.[34] 176 new cases were confirmed, bringing the total up to 922. [35]
25 March 2020: 220 new cases and one death were confirmed, bringing the total up to 1142 and 3, respecitvely.[36]
26 March 2020: 164 new cases and one death were confirmed, bringing the total up to 1306 and 4, respectively.[37]Total curfew to 7 communes of the Metropolitan Region was imposed. [38]
27 March 2020: 304 new cases and one death were confirmed, bringing the total up to 1610 and 5, respectively.[39]Total curfew to Araucania Region was imposed due to high increase on new cases.[40]
28 March 2020: 299 new cases and one death were confirmed, bringing the total up to 1909 and 6, respectively.[41]
29 March 2020: 230 new cases and one death were confirmed, bringing the total up to 2139 and 7, respectively.[42]
Case summary
Region-wise details
New COVID-19 cases (deaths in brackets) in Chile by region (
Source: Confirmed cases by the National Ministry of Health reported on April 3, 2020. Cases included until 09:00 p.m. Tuesday, April 2, 2020 (GMT-3).[43]
Sources: Data from the daily report of the Ministry of Health in order to be standardized.
Day
New cases
Cumulative cases
Cumulative recovered
Cumulative death
3 March 2020
1
1
0
0
4 March 2020
2
3
0
0
5 March 2020
1
4
0
0
6 March 2020
1
5
0
0
7 March 2020
2
7
0
0
8 March 2020
3
10
0
0
9 March 2020
3
13
0
0
10 March 2020
4
17
0
0
11 March 2020
6
23
0
0
12 March 2020
11
34
0
0
13 March 2020
9
43
0
0
14 March 2020
18
61
0
0
15 March 2020
14
75
0
0
16 March 2020
81
156
0
0
17 March 2020
45
201
1
0
18 March 2020
37
238
3
0
19 March 2020
104
342
5
0
20 March 2020
92
434
6
0
21 March 2020
103
537
8
1
22 March 2020
95
632
8
1
23 March 2020
114
746
11
2
24 March 2020
176
922
17
2
25 March 2020
220
1142
22
3
26 March 2020
164
1306
33
4
27 March 2020
304
1610
43
5
28 March 2020
299
1909
61
6
29 March 2020
230
2139
75
7
30 March 2020
310
2449
156
8
31 March 2020
289
2738
201
12
1 April 2020
293
3031
234
16
2 April 2020
373
3404
335
18
3 April 2020
333
3737
427
22
Total confirmed cases
Government response
13 March 2020: President Sebastián Piñera announced a ban on public events with more than 500 people, as the government tries to control the spread of coronavirus even as massive social demonstrations are planned in March and April months.[44]
14 March 2020: Nearly 1,300 passengers on two cruises in Chile have been quarantined after an 83-year-old British national tested positive for coronavirus.[45]Caleta Tortel, a small coastal village that had been visited by the aforementioned tourist was subsequently placed under a 14-day quarantine.[46]
15 March 2020: President Piñera announced below points regarding student in a press conference
14-day isolation for any member of an educational community who has a direct relative with confirmed contagion.
Suspension of classes for 14 days of the complete course when a student has confirmed contagion.
Suspension of classes for 14 days from the complete educational establishment in the case of two or more cases of students with confirmed contagion. These measures may be modified or extended to specific territories, such as communes and regions, as necessary.[citation needed]
16 March 2020: President Piñera announced the closure of the borders for 14 days. He said “We have decided to close all land, sea and area borders of our country for the transit of foreign people. This will not affect the entry and exit of cargo or carriers, to continue guaranteeing a normal supply of our country. This measure will take effect from 18 March 2020. Chilean nationals and permanent residents in Chile, who come from high-risk places, may enter our country undergoing Sanitary Customs and a mandatory 14-day quarantine.[25]
18 March 2020: President Piñera issued a 90-day state of catastrophe (a state of exception subtype regulated in the Constitution of Chile) in order to control the spread of the virus, effective at midnight.[47]
20 March 2020: The mayors of Las Condes, La Reina and Vitacura declared a preventive quarantine for these sectors of the capital, where a large number of confirmed cases of coronavirus were recorded. [48]
22 March 2020: Chile announced a nationwide, night-time curfew between 22:00 Hrs to 5:00 Hrs to keep people off the streets and away from one another as the number of cases of coronavirus continued to creep upwards in the South American nation.[33]
22 March 2020: The curfew was extended from 10pm-5am to 2pm-5am in Easter Island. [49]
28 March 2020: At 10pm, a complete lockdown is established in Temuco and Padre las Casas.
Reactions
On 2 March 2020, The CRU World Copper Conference in Santiago the largest annual gathering of copper miners in the world was canceled which was scheduled between 23 and 27 March 2020, due to concerns over travel risks associated with the coronavirus pandemic.[50]
On 19 March 2020, Chilean lawmakers had reached agreement to postpone the referendum on a new constitution until late October as safety concerns around the coronavirus pandemic take precedence over politics. The referendum, originally slated for 26 April 2020 will be rescheduled for 25 October 2020, However the deal still requires formal approval by a two-thirds vote of congress.[54]