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The sound of saucepans was heard during the night of this Monday in some neighborhoods of the Chilean capital to demand help from the Government in the face of the social crisis that accompanies the coronavirus pandemic, which already totals 46,059 infected and 478 deaths in the country.

In the tower of the Telefónica building, located in the center of Santiago de Chile and the scene of the projection on its walls of proclamations during the social protests that began last October, the word "hunger" appeared tonight. Meanwhile, through social networks, a call to ring the pans against "hunger and misery" circulated, which was supported by many neighbors.

These events ended a day that had its hottest point in the town of El Bosque, on the southern outskirts of Santiago, where at least a hundred people protested from morning until late afternoon to denounce the lack of food and the poverty they suffer because of the quarantine decreed by the Government to try to contain the pandemic.

" It is not against quarantine, it is against hunger, " said one of the protesters on a national television channel.

During the afternoon, local media also reported the burning of a bus in the central neighborhood of Estación Central and small barricades in some other parts of the city.

The events in El Bosque were the first open confrontations with the police after the Chilean capital entered total confinement last Friday night, after the sharp increase in the number of infections.

After some protesters lit barricades and cut off the traffic of several streets in that town, the body of the Carabineros (militarized police) tried to dissipate the protests and even made use of the water-launch truck, despite which they continued at different points.

The president of Chile, the conservative Sebastián Piñera , announced on Sunday that 2.5 million baskets with food and cleaning and hygiene supplies will be delivered to the neediest families , and on Monday he explained that the distribution will begin this week or at the beginning of the next.

"We are going to reach close to 70% of the families (...). We are going to reach the homes and addresses of the vast majority of Chilean families with these baskets, prioritizing the most vulnerable and those who have the most difficulties in access to food and cleaning supplies, "said the president.

Given the episodes of protests experienced this day, Piñera asked for "understanding and tranquility (...) because the process of preparing and distributing these food baskets requires a great effort of organization and logistics and requires some time for their implementation."

Social consequences of the pandemic

The arrival of the coronavirus in Chile, the first case of which was detected on March 3, began a spiral of measures to try to contain its expansion that keeps the country semi-paralyzed, which has led to an increase in unemployment of 8.2% in the first quarter of 2020, its highest figure in a decade, as there were 238,115 layoffs during the month of April, representing an increase of 11.4% year-on-year.

The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Eclac) estimates that 215 million people in its area of ​​influence will be in poverty this year due to the effects of the pandemic, representing 34.7% of the regional population.

The Chilean health authorities reported on Monday that 2,278 new cases of coronavirus were registered in its territory in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of infected to 46,059.

The pronounced growth in the newly infected, which exceed 2,000 cases daily, determined that the Chilean government decreed a strict quarantine of at least one week on Friday in the metropolitan area of ​​Santiago, in addition to other cities in the country, a measure that altogether it affects about 8 million people.

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