Argentina must strike balance between protecting public health, economy: PAHO

Source: Xinhua| 2020-08-12 06:08:43|Editor: huaxia

BUENOS AIRES, Aug. 11 (Xinhua) -- Argentina's main challenge amid the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is to strike the right balance between safeguarding public health and resuming economic activity, the deputy director of Health Emergencies Department at the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), Sylvain Aldighieri, said on Tuesday.

The PAHO representative told Xinhua, during a videoconference, that the South American country faces the "challenge of ensuring the necessary balance between the needed strict implementation of public health measures and ... restarting aspects of the economy and economic exchange."

In that sense, "Argentina faces the same challenges as several other countries in the region," he noted.

The Argentine economy could shrink 10.5 percent this year as a result of the pandemic and lockdown measures, according to a recent forecast by the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC).

Argentina has reported a total of 253,868 cases of infection and 4,785 deaths from the disease since the beginning of March.

Some 60 percent of Argentina's cases were reported in July, as the outbreak spread from the capital Buenos Aires toward less populated areas, such as the northernmost province of Jujuy, said Aldighieri, indicating strategies to contain the virus must change along with the path of the virus.

Lockdown measures in place since March are due to end on Aug. 16, but may be extended, depending on the latest statistics, the government said on Monday.

The measures include mandatory social distancing and self-isolation, suspension of school classes, closing the borders, and banning large private and public gatherings, which have had an impact on the economy. Enditem

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