Chile Health Minister Jaime Manalich resigns as coronavirus deaths hit record
- Official had promoted policy of dynamic lockdown, which ultimately failed as new cases spiralled
- Chile now has more cases of the coronavirus per capita than any other country after Qatar and Bahrain
Chile’s health minister, who advocated a limited-lockdown policy that the government later abandoned, resigned Saturday as daily coronavirus deaths reached a record.
Jaime Manalich had also backed a failed proposal to introduce immunity cards for recovered Covid-19 patients. He quit with immediate effect and was replaced by Enrique Paris, the former head of the Medical College.
The Health Ministry reported 231 new virus-related deaths on Saturday and 6,509 new cases. That brought total cases to 167,355, more than France. The number of deaths increased to 3,101.
Manalich promoted Chile’s policy of “dynamic lockdown,” which restricted movement in specific neighbourhoods rather than entire cities. But when cases spiralled in May, the government put all of Santiago, the capital, under lockdown. Chile has more coronavirus cases per capita than any country except Qatar and Bahrain, though its death rate is not among the highest.
“The first mission of Minister Paris will be to fight the coronavirus, but he also has the job of leading a deep reform of the public and private health system,” President Sebastian Pinera said.
It’s an ignominious end to Manalich’s second stint in the post. He also served as health minister during Pinera’s first term in government from 2010 to 2014.