The COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of 21 September 2024, a total of 10,102,262 people were confirmed to have been infected, and 130,671 people were known to have died because of the virus.[3]
On 3 March 2020, the virus was confirmed to have spread to Argentina.[4][5][6][7] On 7 March 2020, the Ministry of Health confirmed the country's first documented death, a 64-year-old man who had travelled to Paris, France, who also had other health conditions; the case was only confirmed as positive after the patient's demise.[8]
On 19 March 2020, a nationwide lockdown was established in Argentina.[9][10] The lockdown was lifted throughout all the country, excepting the Greater Buenos Aires urban area (where 31.9% of the country's population live),[11] on 10 May, with Greater Buenos Aires locked down until 17 July, where the lockdown was due to be gradually loosened in several stages to lead to the return to normality;[12] restrictions were extended several times until 8 November 2020.[13] During the second wave, another nationwide lockdown took place from 22 to 31 May 2021.[14]
Responses to the outbreak have included restrictions on commerce and movement, closure of borders, and the closure of schools and educational institutions.[15] Clusters of infections and deaths have occurred in nursing homes, prisons and other detention centers, and urban areas.[16][17] The number of tests increased over time, although there were some concerns as there was less testing than in other countries of the region such as Chile and Peru.[18] Even so, the government's responses to the pandemic were among the best received by the population in the region during the early stages of the pandemic.[19]
Official: The national Ministry of Health provides daily updates of new cases, deaths and recoveries here.
Notes:
^The official data from 2020-03-18 doesn't include one case of a person who died but was included later in the daily report of 2020-03-19.
^The official data from 2020-03-23 reclassified a double-counted patient.
^The official data from 2020-03-25 reclassified two cases of the report from the previous day.
^The official data from 2020-07-20 included a total of 4,019 new cases, from which only 3,937 correspond to confirmed cases on this day. The remaining 82 cases come from delayed confirmed cases from the Province of Córdoba that were not updated on the previous days.
^The official data from this day reclassified a death that was double counted as deceased.
^ abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwThe official data from this day reclassified two misreported deaths.
^The official data from 2020-10-01 included 3,050 deaths from the Province of Buenos Aires confirmed on 2020-09-25 that were missed in previous reports and were added after a delay in the loading of data.
^ abcdefgThe official data from this day reclassified four misreported deaths.
^ abcdefgThe official data from this day reclassified three misreported deaths.
^The official data from 2021-01-18 included previously confirmed deaths from the provinces of Buenos Aires and Santa Fe that were missed in previous reports and were added after a delay in the loading of data.
^ abThe official data from this day reclassified seven misreported deaths.
^ abThe official data from this day reclassified six misreported deaths.
^The official data from this day reclassified ten misreported deaths.
^The official data from this day reclassified eleven misreported deaths.
After the cruise shipDiamond Princess was quarantined in the Port of Yokohama in Japan after 10 passengers were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic,[26] among the passengers diagnosed positive was the first Argentine infected, a 61-year-old man traveling with his wife, who had no symptoms. The patient was later transferred to a hospital in Japan.[27] The other seven Argentines on board, including his wife, remained on the ship in quarantine until 21 February.[28] The man was finally released on 17 February. He left Japan on 24 February and arrived in Argentina on 26 February.[29]
A first case of COVID-19 was confirmed in Buenos Aires on 3 March, in a 43-year-old man who had arrived two days earlier from Milan, Italy.[5] Two days later, the second case was confirmed in a 23-year-old man living in Buenos Aires, who had recently returned from Northern Italy.[30] Rapidly, on the next day the total cases increased to eight.[31]
The Ministry of Health confirmed the country's first death from coronavirus in the country on 7 March, a 64-year-old man who had traveled to Paris who also had other health conditions.[8] The person was not among the eight already diagnosed with the disease and was diagnosed post-mortem.[32]
On 11 March, the government also announced a mandatory 14-day-quarantine to every person that returned to Argentina from highly affected countries including China, South Korea, Japan, Iran, the United States and all of Europe.[33][34] The first cases from local transmission were confirmed on the next day in Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chaco, and Córdoba.[35] In Chaco, the first native transmission was also confirmed.[36] The first patient with the virus in the country was discharged and left hospital in Buenos Aires the next day.[37][38]
Tierra del Fuego was put on lockdown on 16 March, becoming the first province to do so.[39] The provinces of Chaco, Misiones, Salta, Jujuy, Mendoza and Tierra del Fuego closed their borders on 18 March.[40] On the next day, in the night of 19 March, President Alberto Fernández announced a mandatory lockdown, in effect from midnight on 20 March until 31 March,[9][10] but on 29 March Fernández announced that the mandatory lockdown would be extended until 12 April.[41]
On 23 March, Ministry of Health officials reported the virus was spreading via "community transmission" in the City of Buenos Aires, its surroundings and some cities in Chaco, Tierra del Fuego and Córdoba provinces.[42] March concluded with 1,054 confirmed cases and 27 fatal victims.[43]
On 8 April, President Fernández announced that the mandatory lockdown would be extended beyond 12 April, with "flexibilization" of few activities only.[44] In the night of 10 April, Fernández confirmed that the lockdown would be extended until 26 April in major cities,[45] and that the flexibilization of restrictions in zones with lesser risk would be analysed.[46] A third phase of the lockdown was later announced by the president on 25 March, extending it to major cities until 10 May.[47]
After appearance of three asymptomatic cases, Buenos Aires authorities introduced compulsory masking starting on 14 April. Wearing a face mask was made obligatory for everyone on public transit and everyone who contacts the public in their position. Violators would face a fine. Authorities also prohibited the sale of N95 respirators to non-medical workers, suggesting the general public to use home-made masks instead.[48]
April finally concluded with 4,415 confirmed cases, 218 deaths and 1,245 recoveries.[49]
Number of cases (blue) and number of deaths (red) on a logarithmic scale.
On 8 May, Fernández announced that the national lockdown would be "relaxed" throughout the country with the exception of Greater Buenos Aires, where the lockdown was extended first until 24 May,[50][51] and later until 7 June (on 23 May), due to a significant increase in the number of new cases in the previous days of the announcement.[52] May ended with 16,838 confirmed cases, 539 deaths and 5,323 recoveries.[53]
On 9 June, the government of the Formosa Province reported the first case of COVID-19 in its province, leaving the Catamarca Province as the only province that did not report any cases at the time.[54]
Martín Insaurralde, the mayor of Lomas de Zamora was diagnosed with COVID-19 and isolated on 12 June.[55] After having meetings with the mayor, the Ministry of Social Development was also tested.[56] This led to the suspension of the previously planned president's visit to Catamarca, the only province that had not reported any cases to this date.[57]
The first official data from ICU bed occupation became available on 24 June, with an occupation of 45 per cent throughout the country.[58] A few days later, it was informed that June concluded with 64,517 confirmed cases, 1,307 deaths and 22,015 recoveries from the virus.[59]
On 3 July, The Governor of the Catamarca Province confirmed its first case within the province. Catamarca was the last province to report its first case since the virus reached the country on 3 March.[60]
At a press conference given by President Fernández, Governors Axel Kicillof (Province of Buenos Aires), Jorge Capitanich (Chaco), Gerardo Morales (Jujuy) and Arabela Carreras (Río Negro), and the Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta on 17 July, it was announced that the lockdown would be loosened in the coming weeks, in an attempt to return to normality.[12] Two weeks later, on 31 July, in another press conference, Fernández announced that the lockdown restrictions at that moment would continue until 16 August as there were a record of cases and deaths in the past days due to the virus.[61] July concluded with 191,289 confirmed cases, 3,543 deaths and 83,767 recoveries.[62]
On 9 August, the Ministry of Health confirmed a total of 61,867 new recoveries on that day. This big jump was due to a revision on the definition of a recovery, which now included (among the discharged from the hospitals) mild cases in which the system would automatically discharge 10 days after the symptom onset date. This led to a recovery rate of 70% of confirmed COVID-19 cases through the date.[63] President Fernández announced on 28 August that meetings of up to ten people in the open air, maintaining two meters of distance and using a face mask were authorised throughout the country. That same day, it was announced that the eased lockdown would be extended again until 20 September.[64] August finally concluded with 417,722 confirmed cases, 8,660 deaths and 301,182 recoveries.[65]
During this month, schools and sports began the return to their activities. Over 10,000 students in San Juan became the first to return to face-to-face classes through social distancing on 10 August.[66][67] The Argentine Football Association (AFA) announced that after health protocols being approved by the government, practices of the Men's First Division and Women's First Division would definitely return on 10 August.[68][69]
President Fernández and other members of the government inaugurate a hospital in La Matanza for COVID-19 patients.
On 14 August, it was confirmed that the governor of Jujuy (Gerardo Morales) and the Security Minister from the Province of Buenos Aires (Sergio Berni) tested positive for COVID-19.[70][71] They both described that were "asymptomatic" and also "complying with isolation and all medical recommendations".[72]
The lockdown was extended for three more weeks on 18 September, expecting it to last until 11 October. The contagion rate on the Greater Buenos Aires area dropped from 93 to 50.8 per cent from May though September, indicating that the virus increased its spreading through all the country. In the first 15 days of September, the provinces of Córdoba, Jujuy, La Rioja, Mendoza, Neuquén, Río Negro, Salta, Santa Cruz, Santa Fe, Tierra del Fuego and Tucumán registered exponential increases in their number of cases, with most of them showing high strain on their healthcare systems.[73] On 25 September, the Health Access Secretary informed that during the previous week there was a "stabilization trend" in the Greater Buenos Aires area with a "high peak of positive cases".[74] On the same day, it was confirmed that the Minister of Social Development, Daniel Arroyo, tested positive,[75] while the Minister of Health of Santa Fe was hospitalised in a hospital in Rosario due to a worsening of her symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19.[76] September concluded with 750,988 cumulative confirmed cases, 16,937 cumulative deaths and 594,632 recoveries.[77]
On 2 October, the governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, isolated with his family after having contact with a government worker who tested positive for COVID-19.[78] One week later, Fernández announced that due to the epidemiological situation in the previous weeks, the lockdown would continue for another two weeks until 25 October. Contagion rate from greater Buenos Aires diminished versus the rest of the country. As of this date, 65 per cent of the total daily confirmed cases came from all the country except the Greater Buenos Aires area, which was the main contagion focus in the past months.[79] The provinces of Río Negro, Mendoza, Tucumán, Santa Fe, Salta, Santiago del Estero, Neuquén and Córdoba saw an increase in the number of occupied ICU beds, with Río Negro reaching to an 88 per cent of occupation.[80]
On 20 October, Argentina confirmed over 1,000,000 positive cases, becoming the fifth country to do so and the second country in South America to pass the landmark.[81] Three days later, it was announced that the lockdown would continue for another two weeks in provinces with a high number of daily new confirmed cases.[82] October finally ended with a total of 1,166,911 cases, 31,002 deaths and 973,926 recoveries from the virus.[83]
During the first days of November, the government announced that will acquire during December 2020 and January 2021, 25 million of doses from the Russian vaccine Sputnik V after it would enter phase III.[84][85][86] Other vaccines such as the developed by University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, Pfizer, and China were also announced to be acquired eventually.[87]
The president also said on 3 November, that "the horizon was starting to come into sight", after the 7-day average of new cases dipped significantly after hitting a high on 21 October.[88] This led to an end on the lockdown established in the Greater Buenos Aires area after more than seven months, set to conclude on 8 November and moving into the social distancing phase.[13] November concluded with 1,424,518 confirmed cases, 38,730 deaths and 1,257,214 recoveries.[89]
Alberto Fernandez became the first Latin American president to be inoculated, via the Sputnik V vaccine.[90]
On 22 December the flight that would bring the first doses of the Sputnik V vaccine to the country left for Moscow,[91] after negotiations began in early December.[92] 300,000 doses arrived on 24 December,[93] with the vaccination campaign beginning on 29 December.[94] The governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, was among the first to receive the vaccine.[95] One day later, the AZD1222 vaccine developed by University of Oxford and AstraZeneca was also approved in the country.[96] The last report of December informed that there were 1,613,911 confirmed cases, 43,163 deaths and 1,426,659 recoveries from the virus at the end of 2020.[97]
Towards the end of the Christmas and holiday season, there was a rise on the number of daily confirmed cases. This concerned President Fernández, whom appealed to call for "individual responsibility".[98] On 6 January, the Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Horacio Rodríguez Larreta, tested positive for COVID-19.[99]
On 8 January, the government announced an immediate national night-time curfew after a big rise in the number of infections in the previous weeks. It ran daily from 1–6 a.m., and was intended to reduce the viral circulation.[100][101][102]
The first case from the lineage B.1.1.7 of the virus was confirmed on 16 January, one month after being reported in the United Kingdom in mid-December.[103] This variant is known for showing evidence of increased transmissibility.[104]
On 21 January, President Fernández became the first Latin American leader to be inoculated against the disease via the recently approved Sputnik V.[90][105] He was later followed by Vice-President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner, who received the vaccine on 24 January.[106]
On 19 February, the president asked the Minister of Health Ginés González García to resign, after media reported that people were able to use connections to get access to the COVID-19 vaccines.[107] This came to light after journalist Horacio Verbitsky said he received a shot after being offered by the minister.[108] On the next day, former Health Access Secretary Carla Vizzotti was sworn as the new Minister of Health, pledging fair vaccine access after the scandal.[109]
On 29 March, the government confirmed community contact cases from various SARS-CoV-2 variants. Cases from the lineage B.1.1.7 (from the United Kingdom) showed an increase in the frequency of detection of the variant in Greater Buenos Aires during the previous epidemiological weeks. Other cases from the P.1 (from Brazil/Japan), P.2 (Brazil) and CAL.20C variants (United States), and L452R mutations were also found among the population.[110]
President Fernández tested positive for COVID-19 on 3 April, showing mild symptoms.[111] Fernández had been previously received the full vaccination against the virus earlier on the same year.[112] During the first week of April, there was also an increase in the number of daily confirmed cases, leading to the begin of the second wave of the pandemic in the country.[113] On 8 April, during a visit by United States Southern Command chief Craig S. Faller to the country, the United States announced the donation of thr
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