Coronavirus in Chile: Minister of Health resigns at the height of the epidemic

Chileans who have lost their jobs due to the health crisis are lining up to register unemployed in Santiago on June 8, 2020 (illustration image). REUTERS / Ivan Alvarado

Text by: RFI Follow

Chile has the highest number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the world in relation to its population. The official death toll has exceeded 3,000 dead, while the country has only 18 million inhabitants. It is in this context, at the height of the epidemic, that the Minister of Health presented his resignation this Saturday, June 13.

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With our correspondent in Santiago, Justine Fontaine

A doctor by training and close to the right-wing president Sebastian Piñera, Jaime Mañalich has been strongly criticized since the start of the health crisis, in particular for his lack of transparency.

In less than a week, the Ministry of Health has changed its methodology three times to count the number of deaths linked to the coronavirus. And on Friday, investigative media revealed that Chile had declared nearly 5,000 coronavirus-related deaths to WHO, compared to only 3,000 officially announced in daily press briefings by the Ministry of Health.

The minister Jaime Mañalich, already criticized for having delayed much in setting up the containment in the region of Santiago, therefore ended up resigning. “  It is the moment of unity, dialogue and trust. And if it is necessary for that that I withdraw, I do it with pleasure because that is what is necessary, while respecting the republican values, to get out of this situation,  "he declared.

Jaime Mañalich was particularly divisive, little appreciated by the order of doctors in particular. His successor, Enrique Paris, is also close to the president. When he took office, he promised a better dialogue with the scientific community, and assured that he was ready to hear critics. He arrives at this post at the most difficult time of the epidemic, when the occupancy rate of resuscitation beds in the Santiago region has reached 100% this week.

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  • Coronavirus
  • Chile
  • Health and Medicine

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