China News Service, January 18th. According to Peru's "Gazette", recently, due to the impact of the mutated strain of the new crown, the number of new confirmed cases in Peru continues to increase, and the number of new crown deaths is also on the rise.

　　According to reports, on January 15, local time, there were 116 new deaths in Peru, the highest record since September 27, 2020. The current death rate from new coronary pneumonia in Peru exceeds 3%.

　　At the same time, the number of new confirmed cases is also increasing rapidly: since January 14, Peru has newly confirmed more than 4,000 cases in a single day, and more than 7,000 new cases have been confirmed on the 14th, which is similar to the record in September 2020.

　　Another factor affected by the mutant strain is the occupancy rate of ICU beds.

Since January 4, more than 1,600 critically ill patients have been admitted to the ICU, which is similar to the record in June 2020.

On the other hand, the number of cured cases per day has decreased, with less than 2,000 people recovering per day.

　　Experts warned that if the government does not step up measures, as the remaining number of ICU beds decreases, the Peruvian health system will collapse again.

In response, the Minister of Health said that more ventilators have been purchased and will be distributed to hospitals across the country in the coming days.

　　In order to curb the spread of the epidemic, the Peruvian Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) officially suspended international flights with a flight time of more than 8 hours on the 17th. The specific destinations are France, the Netherlands, Spain and the United Kingdom. The ban is valid until January 31.

　　On the other hand, the new crown epidemic hit the Peruvian economy hard.

　　In terms of the labor market, in the capital Lima alone, 30% of young people will be unemployed in 2020.

Experts emphasized that one reason for the serious unemployment among young people is that the sectors that employ the most youth labor, such as services and trade, have been hit hard by the epidemic.

　　Cesar Bazin, chairman of the Peruvian Workers' Union Center (CUT), pointed out that although the restoration of employment will depend on the prevention of the epidemic, the government must immediately formulate a plan to reintegrate young people into the labor market.

　　The Peruvian Central Reserve Bank (BCR) said on the 17th that according to the forecast of BCR Economic Research Manager Adrian Armas, Peru’s economy will be 2021 Growth may resume in the second half of this year.

　　Adrian Armas pointed out that the data for November and December 2020 show that the Peruvian economy is recovering.

Peru’s economic contraction in December 2020 may be between 1% and 2%.

　　The BCR board of directors agreed to continue the expansionary monetary policy and maintain the benchmark interest rate at 0.25%. BCR predicts that the inflation rate in early 2021 will be within the target range.