Argentina has the highest number of positive patients found in the COVID-19 trial in the world. Nearly six out of every 10 people are found infected there. This information has been given by Oxford-linked organisation 'Our World in Data'. It is believed to be a result of low number of Covid tests in the country and laxity in implementing lock down rules.
In Argentina, 800,000 positive cases of Covid-19 were scheduled to be confirmed on Monday, an average of about 12,500 new cases daily over the course of seven days. This country had started strongly against the virus, but till last week 20,000 people have died here.
Medical professionals said that there has been such a jump in the number of positive cases due to low volume of tests and relaxation of restrictions. Using health ministry data, the news agency Reuters reported that the infection in the country was around 40 per cent in the month of August, which rose to 60 per cent last week.
Paediatrician Carlos Cambrian of the city of Buenos Aires told the agency, "Is there isolation here? Absolutely not. Are (enough) tests going on? Not happening."
By comparison, New York State has a population of 20 million, which is less than half of Argentina's 4.5 crores, yet there are a million tests a day, which is four times the number of Argentines. In New York State, the rate of infection positive cases is a little over 1 percent.
The Argentine government received considerable praise for the strict lock down that began on 20 March. Poverty levels and unemployment in the country have soared, forcing the relaxation of lock down restrictions to help revive the recession-ridden economy for over two years.
Kamburian said that very little work has been done towards strengthening health services. "Certainly, strategies are not being implemented to prevent this type of epidemic," he said.
According to the report, a source from the Argentine Ministry of Health said that the large number of positive tests is the result of its "detectors" program, where the test focuses on people exposed to infected people. The government has resolved to increase the number of tests.
Argentina ranks eighth in terms of the highest number of covid-19 cases in the world, and is currently in the top five for 7-day average new cases and deaths. Latin America is the world's most affected region in terms of covid-19 cases and deaths.