SANTIAGO, Oct. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chile on Thursday registered 2,205 new cases of COVID-19 infection and 22 more deaths in 24 hours, raising the caseload to 1,688,454 and the pandemic death toll to 37,719, according to the Ministry of Health.
The positivity rate in the past 24 hours was 2.95 percent nationwide and 4 percent in the Santiago Metropolitan Region, the ministry said, after analyzing 71,016 COVID-19 test results.
Infections have increased 24 percent in seven days and 92 percent in 14 days, with the number of active cases currently at 10,800.
At a press conference, Health Minister Enrique Paris blamed the increase on the lifting of lockdown restrictions and non-compliance with basic health guidelines, such as wearing face masks, social distancing, ventilating and handwashing.
Other Chilean regions with high COVID-19 positivity rates were Coquimbo, O'Higgins and Valparaiso. Enditem
