In the streets of the capital, officially deconfined since the beginning of November, it is no longer rare to meet onlookers without a mask or to see friends hugging each other when they meet on a café terrace. “Ya fue” (too bad, it’s good) resonates regularly in dinners which do not always take place in a well ventilated place.
“Don’t relax” : this is, however, the message of the authorities, which is difficult to be listened to as the patience of Argentines has been severely tested during these long months of confinement, in particular in Buenos Aires and in its suburbs (the region that recorded the most cases and deaths since the start of the epidemic). Put in place on March 20 across the country, the restrictions were gradually lifted from May in the provinces least affected by the pandemic, and from September in Greater Buenos Aires.
Nine months after the discovery of the first case of Civid-19 on Argentine soil, the country seems to have finally, since the end of October, passed the peak of the first wave. “But the number of daily cases is still high [plus de 7 000 en moyenne sur la semaine écoulée]“, warns Silvia Gonzalez Ayala, professor of infectious diseases at the National University of La Plata. Argentina exceeded, on Wednesday, December 2, the milestone of 39,000 deaths due to Covid-19. A sad record which makes it the seventh country in the world to record the most deaths per million inhabitants.
The number of tests was insufficient
Specialists identify different factors to explain the high mortality due to the virus in Argentina: the economic crisis that has hit the country since 2018 and which means that, despite state aid, informal workers (40% of jobs) had to leave from home to earn an income; the high urban density, especially in Greater Buenos Aires, which has 15 million inhabitants, or one third of the Argentine population; the unsanitary conditions of the slums and working-class neighborhoods. The infectious disease specialist Silvia Gonzalez Ayala also points to the age of the inhabitants of Greater Buenos Aires, an area in which the average age is higher than in the rest of the country (15% of the population of the capital is over 65) .
“The extension of the confinement in a dropper, every two to three weeks, with no prospect of leaving, has been counterproductive”, also denounces Mme Gonzalez Ayala, who considers that a certain fed up has gained momentum within the population from the month of June, participating in the relaxation of behavior. Finally, the infectious disease specialist believes that the number of tests was insufficient. “The traceability of contact cases did not really begin to be implemented until two months after the start of the epidemic, she points out. What was the point of blocking an entire country so early? “
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