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The COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 () caused by
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a p ...
(). On 3 March 2020, the virus was confirmed to have spread to
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
. As of , a total of people were confirmed to have been infected, and people were known to have died because of the virus. 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. On 19 March 2020, a nationwide lockdown was established in Argentina. The lockdown was lifted throughout all the country, excepting the
Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...
urban area (where 31.9% of the country's population live), 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. However, restrictions were extended several times until 8 November 2020. During the second wave, another nationwide lockdown took place from 22 to 31 May 2021. Responses to the outbreak have included restrictions on commerce and movement, closure of borders, and the closure of schools and educational institutions. Clusters of infections and deaths have occurred in
nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...
s, prisons and other detention centers, and urban areas. 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. 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.


Background

On 12 January, the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
(WHO) confirmed that a
novel coronavirus Novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a provisional name given to coronaviruses of medical significance before a permanent name is decided upon. Although coronaviruses are endemic in humans and infections normally mild, such as the common cold (caused by ...
was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who was reported to the WHO on 31 December 2019. The
case fatality rate In epidemiology, case fatality rate (CFR) – or sometimes more accurately case-fatality risk – is the proportion of people diagnosed with a certain disease, who end up dying of it. Unlike a disease's mortality rate, the CFR does not take int ...
for COVID-19 has been much lower than the
2002–2004 SARS outbreak The 2002–2004 outbreak of SARS, caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), infected over 8,000 people from 29 countries and territories, and resulted in at least 774 deaths worldwide. The outbreak was ...
, but
transmission Transmission may refer to: Medicine, science and technology * Power transmission ** Electric power transmission ** Propulsion transmission, technology allowing controlled application of power *** Automatic transmission *** Manual transmission ** ...
has been significantly greater, with a significant total death toll. Model-based simulations for Argentina indicate that the 95% confidence interval for the time-varying reproduction number ''R'' exceeded 1.0 from April to July 2020, after which it diminished to below 1.0 in October and November 2020.


Timeline


February 2020

After the
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "sho ...
'' Diamond Princess'' was
quarantine A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been ...
d in the
Port of Yokohama The is operated by the Port and Harbor Bureau of the City of Yokohama in Japan. It opens onto Tokyo Bay. The port is located at a latitude of 35.27–00°N and a longitude of 139.38–46°E. To the south lies the Port of Yokosuka; to the nort ...
in Japan after 10 passengers were diagnosed with COVID-19 during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, among the passengers diagnosed positive was the first Argentine infected, a 61-year-old man travelling with his wife, who had no symptoms. The patient was later transferred to a hospital in Japan. The other seven Argentines on board, including his wife, remained on the ship in quarantine until 21 February. The man was finally released on 17 February. He left Japan on 24 February and arrived in Argentina on 26 February.


March 2020

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 Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has ...
, Italy. 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 Northern Italy ( it, Italia settentrionale, it, Nord Italia, label=none, it, Alta Italia, label=none or just it, Nord, label=none) is a geographical and cultural region in the northern part of Italy. It consists of eight administrative region ...
. Rapidly, on the next day the total cases increased to eight. 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 travelled to Paris who also had other health conditions. The person was not among the eight already diagnosed with the disease and was diagnosed post-mortem. 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. The first cases from local transmission were confirmed on the next day in Buenos Aires and the provinces of Buenos Aires, Chaco, and Córdoba. In Chaco, the first native transmission was also confirmed. The first patient with the virus in the country was discharged and left hospital in Buenos Aires the next day. Tierra del Fuego was put on lockdown on 16 March, becoming the first province to do so. The provinces of Chaco,
Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...
,
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic c ...
,
Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies nea ...
, Mendoza and Tierra del Fuego closed their borders on 18 March. On the next day, in the night of 19 March, President
Alberto Fernández Alberto Ángel Fernández (; born 2 April 1959) is an Argentine politician, lawyer and professor, serving as president of Argentina since 2019. Born in Buenos Aires, Fernández attended the University of Buenos Aires, where he earned his law ...
announced a mandatory lockdown, in effect from midnight on 20 March until 31 March, but on 29 March Fernández announced that the mandatory lockdown would be extended until 12 April. 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. March concluded with 1,054 confirmed cases and 27 fatal victims.


April 2020

On 8 April, President Fernández announced that the mandatory lockdown would be extended beyond 12 April, with "flexibilization" of few activities only. In the night of 10 April, Fernández confirmed that the lockdown would be extended until 26 April in major cities, and that the flexibilisation of restrictions in zones with lesser risk would be analysed. A third phase of the lockdown was later announced by the president on 25 March, extending it to major cities until 10 May. 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 with the public in their position. Violators would face a fine. Authorities also prohibited the sale of
N95 respirator An N95 filtering facepiece respirator, commonly abbreviated N95 respirator, is a particulate-filtering facepiece respirator that meets the U.S. National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) N95 classification of air filtratio ...
s to non-medical workers, suggesting the general public to use home-made masks instead. April finally concluded with 4,415 confirmed cases, 218 deaths and 1,245 recoveries.


May–July 2020

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, and later until 7 June (on 23 May), due to a big increase in the number of new cases in the previous days of the announcement. May ended with 16,838 confirmed cases, 539 deaths and 5,323 recoveries. On 9 June, the government of the
Formosa Province Formosa Province () is a province in northeastern Argentina, part of the Gran Chaco Region. Formosa's northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and the province borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively. The ...
reported the first case of COVID-19 in its province, leaving the
Catamarca Province Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, fr ...
as the only province that did not report any cases at the time. Martín Insaurralde, the Mayor of
Lomas de Zamora Lomas de Zamora is a city in the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, located south of the City of Buenos Aires and within the metropolitan area of Greater Buenos Aires. It is the capital of Lomas de Zamora Partido and has a population of 111,897. ...
was diagnosed with COVID-19 and isolated on 12 June. After having meetings with the mayor, the Ministry of Social Development was also tested. This led to the suspension of the previously planned president's visit to Catamarca, the only province that has not reported any cases to this date. The first official data from ICU bed occupation became available on 24 June, with an occupation of 45 per cent throughout the country. 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. On 3 July, The Governor of the
Catamarca Province Catamarca () is a province of Argentina, located in the northwest of the country. The province had a population of 334,568 as per the , and covers an area of 102,602 km2. Its literacy rate is 95.5%. Neighbouring provinces are (clockwise, fr ...
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. At a press conference given by President Fernández, Governors Axel Kicillof (Province of Buenos Aires), Jorge Capitanich (Chaco), Gerardo Morales (
Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies nea ...
) and Arabela Carreras ( Río Negro), and the Mayor of the City of Buenos Aires,
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (born 29 October 1965) is an Argentine economist, politician and the current Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Larreta was re-elected in 2019 with almost 56% of the votes, becoming the first candidate ...
on 17 July, it was announced that the lockdown would be loosened in the coming weeks, in an attempt to return to normality. 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. July concluded with 191,289 confirmed cases, 3,543 deaths and 83,767 recoveries.


August–September 2020

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. 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. August finally concluded with 417,722 confirmed cases, 8,660 deaths and 301,182 recoveries. During this month, schools and sports began the return to their activities. Over 10,000 students in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
became the first to return to face-to-face classes through social distancing on 10 August. The
Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association ( es, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torn ...
(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. 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. They both described that were "asymptomatic" and also "complying with isolation and all medical recommendations". 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. 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". On the same day, it was confirmed that the Minister of Social Development, Daniel Arroyo, tested positive, while the Minister of Health of Santa Fe was hospitalised in a hospital in
Rosario Rosario () is the largest city in the central Argentine province of Santa Fe. The city is located northwest of Buenos Aires, on the west bank of the Paraná River. Rosario is the third-most populous city in the country, and is also the most p ...
due to a worsening of her symptoms after testing positive for COVID-19. September concluded with 750,988 cumulative confirmed cases, 16,937 cumulative deaths and 594,632 recoveries.


October–December 2020

On 2 October, the governor of the province of Buenos Aires,
Axel Kicillof Axel Kicillof (, born 25 September 1971) is an Argentine Peronist economist and politician who has been Governor of Buenos Aires since 2019. Kicillof completed an ideological turn, from teaching Marxist economics to the doctrine of Perón, joi ...
, isolated with his family after having contact with a government worker that tested positive for COVID-19. 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 come from all the country except the Greater Buenos Aires area, which was the main contagion focus in the past months. 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. 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. 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. October finally ended with a total of 1,166,911 cases, 31,002 deaths and 973,926 recoveries from the virus. 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. Other vaccines such as the developed by
University of Oxford , mottoeng = The Lord is my light , established = , endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019) , budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20) , chancellor ...
and
AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...
, Pfizer, and China were also announced to be acquired eventually. 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. 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 In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
phase. November concluded with 1,424,518 confirmed cases, 38,730 deaths and 1,257,214 recoveries. On 22 December the flight that would bring the first doses of the Sputnik V vaccine to the country left for Moscow, after negotiations began in early December. 300,000 doses arrived on 24 December, with the vaccination campaign beginning on 29 December. The governor of the province of Buenos Aires, Axel Kicillof, was among the first to receive the vaccine. One day later, the AZD1222 vaccine developed by University of Oxford and
AstraZeneca AstraZeneca plc () is a British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology company with its headquarters at the Cambridge Biomedical Campus in Cambridge, England. It has a portfolio of products for major diseases in areas includi ...
was also approved in the country. 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.


January–March 2021

Towards the end of the
Christmas and holiday season The Christmas season or the festive season (also known in some countries as the holiday season or the holidays) is an annually recurring period recognized in many Western and other countries that is generally considered to run from late November ...
, there was a rise on the number of daily confirmed cases. This concerned President Fernández, whom appealed to call for "individual responsibility". On 6 January, the Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires,
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (born 29 October 1965) is an Argentine economist, politician and the current Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Larreta was re-elected in 2019 with almost 56% of the votes, becoming the first candidate ...
, tested positive for COVID-19. On 8 January, the government announced an immediate national night-time
curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
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. The first case from the
lineage B.1.1.7 The Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) was a SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern. It was estimated to be 40–80% more transmissible than the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 (with most estimates occupying the middle to higher end of this range). It was first detecte ...
of the virus was confirmed on 16 January, one month after being reported in the United Kingdom in mid-December. This variant is known for showing evidence of increased transmissibility. On 21 January, President Fernández became the first Latin American leader to be inoculated against the disease via the recently approved Sputnik V. He was later followed by Vice-President
Cristina Fernández de Kirchner Cristina Elisabet Fernández de Kirchner (; born 19 February 1953), often referred to by her initials CFK, is an Argentine lawyer and politician who has served as the Vice President of Argentina since 2019. She also served as the President ...
, who received the vaccine on 24 January. On 19 February, the president asked the Minister of Health
Ginés González García Ginés González García (born 31 August 1945) is an Argentine medical doctor who served twice as the country's Minister of Health under President Alberto Fernández, from 2019 to 2021, and under the successive presidencies of Eduardo Duhalde and ...
to resign, after media reported that people were able to use connections to get access to the COVID-19 vaccines. This came to light after journalist
Horacio Verbitsky Horacio Verbitsky (born February 11, 1942) is an Argentine investigative journalist and author with a history as a leftist guerrilla in the Montoneros. In the early 1990s, he reported on a series corruption scandals in the administration of Presi ...
said he received a shot after being offered by the minister. On the next day, former Health Access Secretary
Carla Vizzotti Carla Vizzotti (born 1 June 1972) is an Argentine physician specialized in vaccine-preventable diseases. She was the Secretary of Health Access and Vice Minister of Health in Argentina's Health Ministry, working under Minister Ginés González G ...
was sworn as the new Minister of Health, pledging fair vaccine access after the scandal. On 29 March, the government confirmed community contact cases from various SARS-CoV-2 variants. Cases from the
lineage B.1.1.7 The Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) was a SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern. It was estimated to be 40–80% more transmissible than the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 (with most estimates occupying the middle to higher end of this range). It was first detecte ...
(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.


April–August 2021

President Fernández tested positive for COVID-19 on 3 April, showing mild symptoms. Fernández had been previously received the full vaccination against the virus earlier on the same year. 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. On 8 April, during a visit by
United States Southern Command The United States Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM), located in Doral, Florida in Greater Miami, is one of the eleven unified combatant commands in the United States Department of Defense. It is responsible for providing contingency planning, op ...
chief Craig S. Faller to the country, the United States announced the donation of three mobile hospitals, oxygen generators, among other supplies for other areas. The United States also donated equipment for training on response to situations of disasters or a pandemic. New restrictions were applied since 16 April in Greater Buenos Aires after a rise in the number of new confirmed cases and ICU bed occupation, including a curfew from 8 p.m. to 6 a.m. and the closing of schools for two weeks. Even with those restrictions, cases continued to rise, leading to the government's decision to implement another nationwide lockdown from 22 to 31 May 2021. After a delay in the delivery of second doses of the Sputnik V vaccine, the government announced on 5 August that they would begin applying
Moderna Moderna, Inc. ( ) is an American pharmaceutical and biotechnology company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts that focuses on RNA therapeutics, primarily mRNA vaccines. These vaccines use a copy of a molecule called messenger RNA (mRNA) to produ ...
and AstraZeneca vaccines as replacements of the second doses of the Russian vaccine. Later, it was reported that Argentina's Richmond laboratories delivered nearly a million doses of the first component of the Sputnik V vaccine produced in the country to the Ministry of Health. During August, Buenos Aires City's Health Minister Fernán Quirós announced that the COVID-19 Delta variant was very close to enter into community transmission. It was later confirmed on 24 August that the first case of contagion via community circulation of the Delta variant was found in
Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 (), and the Partido de Lanú ...
, in Buenos Aires Province.


September 2021–January 2022

On 6 December, the health ministry announced the detection of the first positive case of
SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant Omicron (B.1.1.529) is a Variants of SARS-CoV-2, variant of SARS-CoV-2 first reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) by the Network for Genomics Surveillance in South Africa on 24 November 2021. It was first detected in Botswana and ha ...
in a fully vaccinated Argentine traveler, who entered country by airplane on 30 November from South Africa via the United States. On 7 January, Argentina surpassed over 110,000 positive tests in a single day, marking a record number of cases for a fourth consecutive day due to the surge of Omicron cases. On 11 January, Carla Vizzotti confirmed changes for isolation protocols and explained that "the testing strategy is focused on people with symptoms". She said "the virus is behaving in an
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
way" and stated that "most infections are very mild and moderate". She discouraged attending social gatherings and mass events, and went on to mention the value of immunity from vaccination and natural infection.


Responses


Medical response


Initial response

The Ministry of Health summoned
health professional A health professional, healthcare professional, or healthcare worker (sometimes abbreviated HCW) is a provider of health care treatment and advice based on formal training and experience. The field includes those who work as a nurse, physician (suc ...
s to provide health services in the context of the pandemic, in search of reinforcing the teams made up by the national and provincial governments. This call included
nurses Nursing is a profession within the health care sector focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life. Nurses may be differentiated from other health ca ...
,
biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of "biological ch ...
s,
physiotherapists Physical therapy (PT), also known as physiotherapy, is one of the allied health professions. It is provided by physical therapists who promote, maintain, or restore health through physical examination, diagnosis, management, prognosis, patie ...
and physicians, in particular in the fields of medical clinic,
cardiology Cardiology () is a branch of medicine that deals with disorders of the heart and the cardiovascular system. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, valvular hea ...
,
pneumonology Pulmonology (, , from Latin ''pulmō, -ōnis'' "lung" and the Greek suffix "study of"), pneumology (, built on Greek πνεύμων "lung") or pneumonology () is a medical specialty that deals with diseases involving the respiratory tract.
, adult and paediatric
intensive care Intensive care medicine, also called critical care medicine, is a medical specialty that deals with seriously or critically ill patients who have, are at risk of, or are recovering from conditions that may be life-threatening. It includes pro ...
, emergentology,
paediatrics Pediatrics ( also spelled ''paediatrics'' or ''pædiatrics'') is the branch of medicine that involves the medical care of infants, children, adolescents, and young adults. In the United Kingdom, paediatrics covers many of their youth until the ...
and general and/or
family medicine Family medicine is a medical specialty within primary care that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the individual and family across all ages, genders, diseases, and parts of the body. The specialist, who is usually a primar ...
. Proposals from professionals from other specialties were also received. Around 4,000 people joined a call from the
University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...
(UBA) to summon
volunteers Volunteering is a voluntary act of an individual or group freely giving time and labor for community service. Many volunteers are specifically trained in the areas they work, such as medicine, education, or emergency rescue. Others serve ...
to help on the
influenza vaccination Influenza vaccines, also known as flu shots, are vaccines that protect against infection by influenza viruses. New versions of the vaccines are developed twice a year, as the influenza virus rapidly changes. While their effectiveness varies f ...
campaign, advanced medical students to be in
triage In medicine, triage () is a practice invoked when acute care cannot be provided for lack of resources. The process rations care towards those who are most in need of immediate care, and who benefit most from it. More generally it refers to pri ...
in tents near hospitals where the patients will be first checked, volunteers to do a follow-up of isolated patients at home with a confirmed or suspected diagnosis of COVID-19, and volunteers to work on logistics.


Testing

The ''ANLIS-Malbrán'' (National Administration of Laboratories and Health Institutes "''Dr. Carlos G. Malbrán''") began carrying out 300 daily COVID-19 tests. Later, after 820 confirmed cases were reached, the Ministry of Health started the delivery of 35,000 reactives to expand the number of laboratories for diagnosis to all 24 jurisdictions to decentralise the testings, making the number of testings increase over time. Private medical clinics would be able to do up to 7,500 daily tests to decompress the public health system. Previously, the delivery of the diagnostic result was taking four to five days on average for patients in private clinics.


Contact tracing

As an effort to fight and contain the virus, the Ministry of Health implemented a plan of contact tracing in defined areas where an increase in the number of cases is detected or estimated. The plan launched first in Buenos Aires and was later extended throughout the country. The program, called ''Detectar'' (Detect in English; Strategic Testing Device for Coronavirus in Argentina Terrain), launched on May after a big jump in the number of cases in low socioeconomic class and densely populated neighbourhoods in Greater Buenos Aires, known as
villas Villas may refer to: Places * Villas, Florida, United States * Villas, Illinois, United States * Villas, New Jersey, United States * Las Villas, a region of Spain * Las Villas (Cuba), a former Cuban Province * The Villas, a housing estate in St ...
.


Drug therapy and vaccine development

On 17 April 2020, a clinical trial based on plasma donation of recovered patients from COVID-19 was created to find out if the
antibodies An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...
of a recovered patient could benefit those who are being infected. It began on hospitals and hemotherapy centers in Greater Buenos Aires and was later extended to the rest of the country. Argentine scientists developed a quick diagnosis test to detect the
severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2) is a strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019), the respiratory illness responsible for the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The virus previously had a p ...
(SARS-CoV-2), approved by the National Administration of Medicines, Food and Medical Technology (''ANMAT'' in Spanish). The test, called NEOKIT-COVID-19, allows to obtain results in almost an hour and it offers a high degree of sensitivity (which reduces the possibility of false negatives) and specificity (which minimises the probability of false positives). This test allows testing
RNA Ribonucleic acid (RNA) is a polymeric molecule essential in various biological roles in coding, decoding, regulation and expression of genes. RNA and deoxyribonucleic acid ( DNA) are nucleic acids. Along with lipids, proteins, and carbohyd ...
samples and does not require complex equipment (such as
thermal cycler The thermal cycler (also known as a thermocycler, PCR machine or DNA amplifier) is a laboratory apparatus most commonly used to amplify segments of DNA via the polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Thermal cyclers may also be used in laboratories to fa ...
s). It was expected that 10,000 tests would be produced within the first 10 days. On 13 June 2020, a new announcement of another quick diagnosis test to detect the SARS-CoV-2 was made. Called ELA-chemstrip, it was developed by Argentine scientists from the
National University of Quilmes The National University of Quilmes ( es, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes, UNQui) is an Argentine national university and the most important one in the Quilmes area. The National University of Quilmes was founded on October 23, 1989. Located in B ...
and the
National University of General San Martín The National University of General San Martín ( es, Universidad Nacional de General San Martín, link=no, UNSAM) is an Argentine public university whose main campus is located in the city of San Martín, Buenos Aires Province. The university ...
. Another SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic kit with RT-qPCR technology was approved in September 2020 by ANMAT, while a new kit under development (as of that date), would allow the joint detection of SARS-CoV-2 and the viruses that cause
influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
. On 31 May 2020, it was announced that Argentine scientists were also working to develop a
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an es ...
, a project subsidised by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Productive Innovation. On 10 July 2020,
pharmaceutical A medication (also called medicament, medicine, pharmaceutical drug, medicinal drug or simply drug) is a drug used to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent disease. Drug therapy (pharmacotherapy) is an important part of the medical field and ...
corporations Pfizer and BioNTech announced that the
clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...
for the
COVID-19 vaccine A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19). Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an es ...
BNT162 that was on phase I–II as of the day of the announcement, would begin on early-August in Argentina, soon after the trial began on Germany and the United States. After it would be approved by the ''ANMAT'', the trial would take place at the Central Militar Hospital. The trial is made by
mRNA In molecular biology, messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) is a single-stranded molecule of RNA that corresponds to the genetic sequence of a gene, and is read by a ribosome in the process of synthesizing a protein. mRNA is created during the p ...
constructs and consists of four vaccines, randomised, placebo-controlled, dose-finding and vaccine candidate-selection, and would begin its phase IIb-III after preliminary data from the previous phase were positive. One month later, Fernández announced that the vaccine produced by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca ( AZD1222) would begin production alongside Mexico after an agreement with the British pharmaceutical company and the biotechnology company mAbxience. Initially 150 million doses of the vaccine would be produced to supply all of Latin America (with the exception of Brazil). As of the day of the announcement, the vaccine, consisting of modified chimp
adenovirus Adenoviruses (members of the family ''Adenoviridae'') are medium-sized (90–100 nm), nonenveloped (without an outer lipid bilayer) viruses with an icosahedral nucleocapsid containing a double-stranded DNA genome. Their name derives from thei ...
vector Vector most often refers to: *Euclidean vector, a quantity with a magnitude and a direction *Vector (epidemiology), an agent that carries and transmits an infectious pathogen into another living organism Vector may also refer to: Mathematic ...
, was entering phase III. A COVID-19 hyperimmune serum based on equine
polyclonal Polyclonal B cell response is a natural mode of immune response exhibited by the adaptive immune system of mammals. It ensures that a single antigen is recognized and attacked through its overlapping parts, called epitopes, by multiple clones of ...
antibodies An antibody (Ab), also known as an immunoglobulin (Ig), is a large, Y-shaped protein used by the immune system to identify and neutralize foreign objects such as pathogenic bacteria and viruses. The antibody recognizes a unique molecule of the ...
was developed by Argentine biotech company . The antibodies were obtained by injecting a
recombinant protein Recombinant DNA (rDNA) molecules are DNA molecules formed by laboratory methods of genetic recombination (such as molecular cloning) that bring together genetic material from multiple sources, creating sequences that would not otherwise be foun ...
of SARS-CoV-2 in these animals, with ''
in vitro ''In vitro'' (meaning in glass, or ''in the glass'') studies are performed with microorganisms, cells, or biological molecules outside their normal biological context. Colloquially called "test-tube experiments", these studies in biology and ...
'' testings demonstrating the ability to neutralise the virus. On 24 July 2020, the trial entered its phase II–III after being approved by ANMAT. On 3 November 2020, President Fernández announced in an interview with Russian news agency that government would receive an initial of more than 10 million doses of the Sputnik V vaccine by as early as December 2020, after it would enter phase III. Other previously announced vaccines in development would also be acquired to a lesser extent by the government, such as those produced by the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca, Pfizer and China. Government officials also said that the deployment of any coronavirus vaccine in Argentina would not be mandatory. 300,000 doses of the Sputnik V vaccine arrived at the country in late December 2020. The Sputnik V and the BNT162b2 vaccines were the first to receive emergency approvals from ANMAT, On 30 December 2020, the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca's vaccine AZD1222 was also approved for use by ANMAT. On 2 February 2021, it was announced that 1 million doses of the Sinopharm BIBP vaccine would arrive during February in Argentina.


Vaccination campaign

Vaccination against COVID-19 began in Argentina on 29 December 2020 aiming at health professionals. During the first week, 39,599 doses were applied to health professionals. On 18 February 2021, vaccination on citizens aged over 70 began in the Province of Buenos Aires. Schools, among other sites, were used as temporary vaccination centres. On 18 November 2021, health minister Vizzotti said that there was "sufficient stock" to vaccinate all the population with a
booster dose A booster dose is an extra administration of a vaccine after an earlier ( primer) dose. After initial immunization, a booster provides a re-exposure to the immunizing antigen. It is intended to increase immunity against that antigen back to prote ...
. The campaign of the booster dose began in late October 2021, with people over the age of 70 and health personnel; and those above the age of 50 who completed their two doses with Sinopharm.


Public response

During the first weeks of the pandemic, people across the country used to applaud from balconies, terraces and windows of their houses and buildings at 9 pm, in order recognise the effort and work of health professionals, a demonstration similar to the ones that occurred during the pandemic in Spain and Italy. Since late-May 2020, a few protestors began to rally in Buenos Aires to demand end of the lockdown, ignoring social distancing rules, and with the call to prioritise the re-opening of Argentina's economy and some conspiratorial overtones, due to the small and medium-size businesses and self-employed workers' economic struggle during this time. Despite the protests, a vast majority of Argentines were supportive of the lockdown, according to polls. Other protests were realised against the government policies to combat the pandemic, corruption and insecurity, and against the bill to reform some elements of the judiciary, but the conspiracy theories about the virus were still present in the protests.


Government responses

The government's responses to the pandemic was very well seen, including the mandatory lockdown and strict social distancing measures, resulting in a general better look in the number of cases and deaths than other countries in the region. The measures also brought some concerns with the economic impact that it could cause to the country. Even so, the way that president Fernández and its government handled the country's response to the spread of COVID-19 resulted in the best numbers of public approval since the president's assumption in December 2019. Argentina was among the Latin American countries that earned the best grades for their response to the pandemic, according to a poll conducted in the region, only behind Uruguay and Paraguay.


First measures

On 11 March 2020, the government announced a mandatory 14-day-quarantine to every person that returned to Argentina from highly affected countries such as China,
South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...
, Japan,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkme ...
, the United States and all of Europe. On 15 March 2020, it was announced that the government would close its borders for a total of 15 days to non-residents and national parks, and the suspension of public and private school classes in all levels and flights from highly affected countries for 30 days. On 16 March 2020, the province of
Tierra del Fuego Tierra del Fuego (, ; Spanish for "Land of the Fire", rarely also Fireland in English) is an archipelago off the southernmost tip of the South American mainland, across the Strait of Magellan. The archipelago consists of the main island, Isla ...
was put on lockdown, becoming the first province to do so. The provinces of Chaco,
Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...
,
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic c ...
,
Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies nea ...
, Mendoza and Tierra del Fuego also decided to close their borders on 18 March 2020.


Nationwide measures


Mandatory lockdown

On 19 March 2020, President Alberto Fernández announced a mandatory lockdown to curb the spread of coronavirus. It would take effect from 20 March 2020 until 31 March 2020. It was among the strictest measures in the region. The "preventive and mandatory
social isolation Social isolation is a state of complete or near-complete lack of contact between an individual and society. It differs from loneliness, which reflects temporary and involuntary lack of contact with other humans in the world. Social isolation c ...
" included the following measures: * Mandatory lockdown for all residents, * The move of Malvinas Day from 2 April to 31 March 2020, * Allowance of purchases of foods, medicines and first need products, * Transit control on the streets by Naval Prefecture,
National Gendarmerie The National Gendarmerie (french: Gendarmerie nationale, ) is one of two national law enforcement forces of France, along with the National Police. The Gendarmerie is a branch of the French Armed Forces placed under the jurisdiction of the Min ...
and
Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...
, * Penalties to those that cannot justify their transit on the streets according to the
Penal Code A criminal code (or penal code) is a document that compiles all, or a significant amount of a particular jurisdiction's criminal law. Typically a criminal code will contain offences that are recognised in the jurisdiction, penalties that migh ...
, * Exception of the lockdown to state, health, food production, drugs production and oil industry workers and security forces, * Creation of a government department that works on the pandemic and economic issues, and * Guidelines to relieve the situation for non-formal sector. On 29 March 2020, Fernández announced that the mandatory lockdown would be extended until 12 April 2020. The announcement of the lockdown was generally well received, although there were concerns with its economic impact in the already delicate state of Argentina's economy, with analysts predicting at least 3% GDP decrease in 2020. Image of Fernández increased during the first weeks of the lockdown according to some surveys, but later suffered a slightly decrease in April 2020 due to the prolongation of the lockdown. The
University of Buenos Aires The University of Buenos Aires ( es, Universidad de Buenos Aires, UBA) is a public research university in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Established in 1821, it is the premier institution of higher learning in the country and one of the most prestigi ...
also made a survey, in which most people agreed to the measures taken by the president. Fernández announced a one-time emergency payment of 10,000 pesos (US$154) to lower-income individuals whose income was affected by the lockdown, including retirees. Because banks were excluded in the list of businesses that were considered essential in Fernandez's lockdown decree, they remained closed until the
Central Bank A central bank, reserve bank, or monetary authority is an institution that manages the currency and monetary policy of a country or monetary union, and oversees their commercial banking system. In contrast to a commercial bank, a central ba ...
announced banks would open during a weekend starting on 3 April 2020.


Administrated lockdown

On 10 April 2020, Fernández confirmed that the lockdown would be extended until 26 April 2020 under a "new phase" with new authorisations available for workers of some services such as banks, among others.


Geographical segmentation

The third phase of the lockdown was announced on 25 April 2020 by president Fernández. The lockdown would resume to workers of private construction, medical and dental care, industry production and online commerce, lawyers, and accountants, among others, in some provinces such as Entre Ríos,
Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies nea ...
, La Pampa, Mendoza,
Misiones Misiones (, ''Missions'') is one of the 23 provinces of Argentina, located in the northeastern corner of the country in the Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by Paraguay to the northwest, Brazil to the north, east and south, and Corrientes ...
,
Neuquén Neuquén (; arn, Nehuenken) is the capital city of the Argentine province of Neuquén and of the Confluencia Department, located in the east of the province. It occupies a strip of land west of the confluence of the Limay and Neuquén rivers w ...
,
Salta Salta () is the capital and largest city in the Argentine province of the same name. With a population of 618,375 according to the 2010 census, it is also the 7th most-populous city in Argentina. The city serves as the cultural and economic c ...
,
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
, Santa Cruz and Tucumán, with the respective health protocols. Cities with population over 500,000 inhabitants are still under mandatory lockdown due to the communitary transmission of the virus.


Progressive reopening

On 8 May 2020, President Fernández announced alongside the City of
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...
' Chief of Government
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (born 29 October 1965) is an Argentine economist, politician and the current Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Larreta was re-elected in 2019 with almost 56% of the votes, becoming the first candidate ...
and Buenos Aires Province Governor
Axel Kicillof Axel Kicillof (, born 25 September 1971) is an Argentine Peronist economist and politician who has been Governor of Buenos Aires since 2019. Kicillof completed an ideological turn, from teaching Marxist economics to the doctrine of Perón, joi ...
, that the national lockdown would enter its fourth phase throughout all the country (with the exception of the Greater Buenos Aires urban area), allowing the reopening of factories and business. The Greater Buenos Aires zone will maintain the geographical segmentation phase due to the number of cases that are still being registered in the area, but will allow children to go outside accompanied by an adult. The lockdown in the Greater Buenos Aires was later extended until 7 June 2020 after the number of cases in this area in the previous days showed a big increase. Later, on 4 June 2020, the lockdown was extended again until 28 June 2020 in the Greater Buenos Aires area after the country just surpassed 20,000 cases. New activities allowed in the area included opening of shops in "low concentration" areas, outdoor walks with children on the weekends, outdoor physical activities from 8 p.m. to 8 am, and religious services by streaming, among other measures taken by each municipality. A survey realised during the first days of May 2020, expresses that the main concern of the surveyed people was the fear of virus contagion (50.9%) instead of the worries of a worsening in the economic situation (49.1%). Also, another survey expressed that 3 out of 10 Argentines believe the
World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
reports about the COVID-19 origins.


Lockdown tightening

President Fernández announced on 26 June 2020 that the restrictions on movement in Buenos Aires that were previously eased, would be tightened again since 1 July 2020 due to a spike in COVID-19 cases on Greater Buenos Aires. This phase of the lockdown would be extended until 17 July 2020. According to Fernández, this urban area saw an increase of 147% of COVID-19 cases, and an increase of 95% on deaths due to the disease during the previous 20 days of the announcement. Fernández also confirmed that 97% of detected cases across the country occur in the Greater Buenos Aires. New restrictions include: public transportation allowed only for essential workers, prohibition of outdoor activities and stronger transit control on the streets. Allowance of purchases of foods, medicines and first need products would be the only activity allowed without any permission.


Lockdown loosening

After the end of the previous phase of the lockdown in Greater Buenos Aires, President Fernández finally announced on 17 July 2020 that the lockdown would be gradually loosened in several stages to lead to the return to normality. New activities allowed include individual outdoor recreation activities, opening of local shops, car washers, clothing and footwear stores, hairdressing, waxing, manicure and pedicure shops in all neighbourhoods, return of administrative staff to schools, individual prayers in temples (with no more than 10 people on the site), return of dog walkers, opening of libraries (without staying in the place), and return of professional activities, such as lawyers and accountants, at least once a week. Public transportation would still be only allowed for workers in essential areas such as healthcare, security, gastronomy and others. As the lockdown was due to expire on 2 August 2020, Fernández announced in a press conference on 31 July that the restrictions would continue until 16 August at least, after the country recorded a record daily tally of new cases and deaths on the previous day of the announcement. A few days later, the government decided to ban social gatherings across the country for 15 days amid surge of infections and fatalities. The lockdown was again extended after 147 days (on 14 August 2020), for two more weeks until 30 August. Several cities that experienced a big growth in the number of confirmed cases in the previous weeks were put back into a tighter lockdown. The cities of Tartagal,
La Rioja La Rioja () is an autonomous community and province in Spain, in the north of the Iberian Peninsula. Its capital is Logroño. Other cities and towns in the province include Calahorra, Arnedo, Alfaro, Haro, Santo Domingo de la Calzada, and N ...
, Chamical,
Santiago del Estero Santiago del Estero (, Spanish for ''Saint-James-Upon-The-Lagoon'') is the capital of Santiago del Estero Province in northern Argentina. It has a population of 252,192 inhabitants, () making it the twelfth largest city in the country, with a surf ...
and
La Banda La Banda is a city in the province of Santiago del Estero, Argentina. It has about 95,000 inhabitants as per the , making it the second largest in the province. It is the head town of the Banda Department. La Banda is located only 8 km away ...
were expected to join the places that were already with a strict lockdown such as Greater Buenos Aires, Jujuy ( Libertador Gral. San Martín,
Manuel Belgrano Manuel José Joaquín del Corazón de Jesús Belgrano y González (3 June 1770 – 20 June 1820), usually referred to as Manuel Belgrano (), was an Argentine public servant, economist, lawyer, politician, journalist, and military leader. He ...
, El Carmen and San Pedro), Santa Cruz (
Río Gallegos Rio or Río is the Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, and Maltese word for "river". When spoken on its own, the word often means Rio de Janeiro, a major city in Brazil. Rio or Río may also refer to: Geography Brazil * Rio de Janeiro * Rio do Sul, a ...
) and Tierra del Fuego (
Río Grande The Rio Grande ( and ), known in Mexico as the Río Bravo del Norte or simply the Río Bravo, is one of the principal rivers (along with the Colorado River) in the southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The length of the Rio G ...
). On 28 August 2020 it was announced that the eased lockdown would be extended again until 20 September 2020. Also, 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. As the lockdown was due to expire on 20 September 2020, two days earlier President Fernández confirmed another extension of the lockdown for three weeks until 11 October 2020. Local authorities are still in charge of applying new restrictions in each territory. After three weeks, Fernández announced that due to the epidemiological situation in the weeks prior to 9 October 2020, the lockdown would continue until 25 October with new measures to decrease circulation in 18 provinces. In Buenos Aires new activities such as the gradual return to face-to-face classes, habilitation of domestic service, cultural events, construction and other social and commercial authorisations were announced by Mayor Rodríguez Larreta on the same day. As the country surpassed the million cases on 19 October 2020, President Fernández announced four days later that the lockdown would be extended again for two weeks in the provinces of Chubut, Córdoba, Mendoza, Neuquén, Río Negro, San Luis, Santa Fe and Tucumán, and in Greater Buenos Aires, as these provinces have been accounting for 55 per cent of the country's total cases in the previous weeks. In Greater Buenos Aires the gradual opening of activities would continue in cities with a decrease in the number of daily cases. Openings in internal areas in bars and restaurants, gyms, artisan fairs, public pools, museums and schools were confirmed to apply in Buenos Aires.


Social distancing

On 6 November 2020, Fernández announced that the lockdown would come to an end in Greater Buenos Aires to move to the
social distancing In public health, social distancing, also called physical distancing, (NB. Regula Venske is president of the PEN Centre Germany.) is a set of non-pharmaceutical interventions or measures intended to prevent the spread of a contagious disea ...
phase, although it could continue in other provinces until 29 November 2020. This was due to a decrease in the number of cases after eight weeks. Gradual openings would begin to be implemented to all educational levels, restaurants and bars with indoor services and private construction, and outdoor social gatherings would be allowed. A restriction to nighttime activities was applied on 11 January 2021 after a rise of the number of COVID-19 cases in the previous weeks. The
curfew A curfew is a government order specifying a time during which certain regulations apply. Typically, curfews order all people affected by them to ''not'' be in public places or on roads within a certain time frame, typically in the evening and ...
would run daily from 1–6 a.m., being intended to reduce the circulation of the virus. The shutting down of clandestine parties attended by young people are also encouraged, which experts believe is a key factor behind the recent surge in cases. Not every province applied the curfew, like Córdoba and
Jujuy San Salvador de Jujuy (), commonly known as Jujuy and locally often referred to as San Salvador, is the capital and largest city of Jujuy Province in northwest Argentina. Also, it is the seat of the Doctor Manuel Belgrano Department. It lies nea ...
. The City of Buenos Aires closed all commercial business between 1–6 a.m. beginning 10 January 2021, but without restrictions on circulation unlike the rest of the provinces. On 30 January 2021, social distancing was extended until 1 March 2021, with the decree altered to allow for return of face-to-face classes at schools nationwide since February.


Second wave restrictions

The government announced on 14 April 2021 that from the following day new restrictions would apply to Greater Buenos Aires for two weeks after a rise in the number of daily cases and ICU bed occupation. Measures included the close of schools, curfew between 8 p.m.–6 a.m. and the suspension of indoor sports, recreational, religious and cultural activities. A month later, a nine-day nationwide lockdown was announced after the number of daily cases continued to rise. It took place from 22 to 31 May 2021, with only essential businesses opened, classes suspended and restaurants only open for home delivery and pick-up services. Also, citizens were only allowed to circulate between 6 a.m.–6 p.m., with social, economic, religious and sporting activities banned.


Second loosening of restrictions

In October 2021, after the number of infections considerably decreased and having reached the mark of more than 70% of the population vaccinated, some regions, especially
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South Am ...
lifted the face mask mandate when outdoors. The order was signed by the Mayor of Buenos Aires
Horacio Rodríguez Larreta Horacio Rodríguez Larreta (born 29 October 1965) is an Argentine economist, politician and the current Chief of Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Larreta was re-elected in 2019 with almost 56% of the votes, becoming the first candidate ...
. Many other provinces and cities followed suit, with only being the face mask mandate being obligatory when indoors.


Impact


Healthcare

On 23 March 2020, Argentina's President Fernández asked the president of China,
Xi Jinping Xi Jinping ( ; ; ; born 15 June 1953) is a Chinese politician who has served as the general secretary of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) and chairman of the Central Military Commission (CMC), and thus as the paramount leader of China, si ...
, for 1,500
ventilator A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...
s as Argentina had only 8,890 available. Previously, President Fernández announced the construction of eight emergency hospitals to deal with the pandemic on mid-March 2020. 2,452 non-hospital beds were made available to patients in the final stage of recovering from the disease from hospitals in the province of Buenos Aires. During the pandemic, more than 400 health professionals were infected, making the 15 per cent of the total confirmed cases as of 19 April 2020. According to the ''Argentinian Intensive Care Society'', there are only 1,350 physicians trained for that speciality. Later the Ministry of Health summoned different health professionals, making that number rise over 3,122. The province of Chaco had the worst rate of health professionals infected, with the 52 per cent of the total cases of that jurisdiction in April 2020. Argentina's health system was also dealing with a
Dengue fever Dengue fever is a mosquito-borne tropical disease caused by the dengue virus. Symptoms typically begin three to fourteen days after infection. These may include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic ...
outbreak In epidemiology, an outbreak is a sudden increase in occurrences of a disease when cases are in excess of normal expectancy for the location or season. It may affect a small and localized group or impact upon thousands of people across an entire ...
, with more than 14,000 cases since 29 July 2019, and the worse
measles Measles is a highly contagious infectious disease caused by measles virus. Symptoms usually develop 10–12 days after exposure to an infected person and last 7–10 days. Initial symptoms typically include fever, often greater than , cough, ...
outbreak since the end of its
endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
circulation, after 174 cases and a death were confirmed since 2019. Until 18 July 2020, there were 181,043 confirmed cases of
influenza Influenza, commonly known as "the flu", is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These symptoms ...
(down 64.4% versus the same period in 2019), 26,323 cases of
pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severit ...
, 24,643 cases of
bronchiolitis Bronchiolitis is inflammation of the small airways in the lungs. Acute bronchiolitis is due to a viral infection usually affecting children younger than two years of age. Symptoms may include fever, cough, runny nose, wheezing, and breathing ...
in children under 2 years (down 84% versus the same period in 2019), and 9,495 cases of severe acute respiratory infections. Regarding the circulation of respiratory viruses,
adenovirus Adenoviruses (members of the family ''Adenoviridae'') are medium-sized (90–100 nm), nonenveloped (without an outer lipid bilayer) viruses with an icosahedral nucleocapsid containing a double-stranded DNA genome. Their name derives from thei ...
,
parainfluenza Human parainfluenza viruses (HPIVs) are the viruses that cause human parainfluenza. HPIVs are a paraphyletic group of four distinct single-stranded RNA viruses belonging to the '' Paramyxoviridae'' family. These viruses are closely associated with ...
,
influenza B ''Influenza B virus'' is the only species in the genus ''Betainfluenzavirus'' in the virus family ''Orthomyxoviridae''. Influenza B virus is known only to infect humans and seals. This limited host range is apparently responsible for the lack ...
and
influenza A '' A virus'' (''IAV'') causes influenza in birds and some mammals, and is the only species of the genus ''Alphainfluenzavirus'' of the virus family ''Orthomyxoviridae''. Strains of all subtypes of influenza A virus have been isolated from wild ...
predominated as of that date. Also, eight deaths from influenza were registered through that date, from which three of them also tested positive for SARS-CoV-2.


Economy

Due to the national lockdown, the economical activity suffered a collapse of nearly 10% in March 2020 according to a consultant firm. The highest drop was of the construction sector (32%) versus March 2019. Every economical sector suffered a collapse, with finance, commerce, manufacturing industry and mining being the most affected. The agriculture sector was the least affected, but overall the economic activity for the first trimester of 2020 accumulates a 5% contraction. It was expected that the extension of the lockdown beyond April 2020 would increase the collapse of the Argentinian economy. In March 2020, the primary fiscal deficit jumped to US$1,394 million, an 857% increase year-to-year. This was due to the public spending to combat the pandemic and the drop in tax collection due to low activity in a context of social isolation. In June 2020, industrial production fell 6.6% versus June 2019. This was better than the forecast announced by analysts and a smaller drop than in the previous months since the beginning of the pandemic. President Fernández announced a 700 billion pesos (US$11.1 billion) stimulus package due to the pandemic, worth 2% of the country's GDP, and have focused on providing increased health spending, including for improvements in virus diagnostics, purchases of hospital equipment and construction of clinics and hospitals; support for workers and vulnerable groups, including through increased transfers to poor families, social security benefits (especially to low-income beneficiaries), unemployment insurance benefits, and payments to minimum-wage workers; support for hard-hit sectors, including an exemption from social security contributions, grants to cover payroll costs; and subsidised loans for construction-related activities; forbearance, including continued provision of utility services for households in arrears; and credit guarantees for bank lending to micro, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) for the production of foods and basic supplies. The country would also have to face its ninth
sovereign default A sovereign default is the failure or refusal of the government of a sovereign state to pay back its debt in full when due. Cessation of due payments (or receivables) may either be accompanied by that government's formal declaration that it wi ...
in history due to the recession. Measures also have been aimed at encouraging bank lending through lower reserve requirements on bank lending to households and SMEs, regulations that limit banks' holdings of central bank paper to provide space for SME lending, temporary easing of bank provisioning needs and of bank loan classification rules, and a stay on both bank account closures due to bounced checks and credit denial to companies with payroll tax arrears. According to a survey, approximately 143,000 SMEs were not be able to pay salaries and fixed costs, even with government assistance, so they might had to borrow or increase their own capital contribution. 35,000 of these companies were considering to close their business. The
International Monetary Fund The International Monetary Fund (IMF) is a major financial agency of the United Nations, and an international financial institution, headquartered in Washington, D.C., consisting of 190 countries. Its stated mission is "working to foster glob ...
(IMF) reported that the COVID-19 crisis would plunge Argentina's GDP by 9.9 per cent, after the country's economy contracted by 5.4 per cent in first quarter of 2020, with unemployment rising over 10.4 per cent in the first three months of the year, before the lockdown started. Other reports also indicate that the economy might shrink between 10% to 12% during 2020. Argentina's economy contracted a record 19.1% in the second quarter of 2020 versus the same period of 2019 as the pandemic reduced production and demand, though was slightly better than analyst forecasts. The previous record was held during the
1998–2002 Argentine great depression The Argentine Great Depression was an economic depression in Argentina, which began in the third quarter of 1998 and lasted until the second quarter of 2002. It followed the fifteen years stagnation and a brief period of free-market reforms. ...
, with a 16.3% drop in 2002. The unemployment rate during the second quarter of 2020 jumped to 13.1%, up from the 10.6% rate that was held in the same period in 2019, reaching up to 26% in
Mar del Plata Mar del Plata is a city on the coast of the Atlantic Ocean, in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina. It is the seat of General Pueyrredón district. Mar del Plata is the second largest city in Buenos Aires Province. The name "Mar del Plata" is a sh ...
, a tourism-centered city. It was the highest unemployment rate since 2004. After the reopening of June 2021, the economy in Argentina expanded more than expected, growing 10.8 percent in June compared versus 2020 after activity declined during April–May 2021.


Travel

After announced a mandatory quarantine to every person that returned to Argentina from highly affected countries, the government closed its borders, ports, and suspended flights. The ''Argentina 2000'' airports signed an agreement with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation to reimburse 100% of the charges originated by the air cargo that enters the country that are directly or indirectly related to the COVID-19. Since 1 April 2020, the government allowed the return of Argentine residents stranded abroad, with a maximum of 700 passengers per day. Seven border crossings opened temporarily to allow the repatriation of Argentina's inhabitants. Hotels for local tourism closed too, being only open to people staying in a situation of lockdown though the time it lasts. Several tourism-related cities also saw a massive migration from Argentine residents after the announcement of the national lockdown. It was severely criticised by the government. According to the
International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
(IATA), Argentina was expected to loosen its travel ban earlier than the date that was previously announced by the government (1 September 2020). Later, it was announced that the government was planning to authorise foreign flights with a maximum passenger capacity of 70%, as soon as mid-August 2020. By September 2020, government announced regular flights could return on the next month. Following this travel ban, one of the most strict in the world, airline
LATAM Argentina Aero 2000 S.A., d/b/a LATAM Airlines Argentina, formerly LAN Argentina, was an airline based in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and a member of the LATAM Airlines Group. History Prior to its acquisition by LAN Airlines, the airline was known by its l ...
closed definitely on 17 June 2020, due to "the conditions of the local industry, aggravated by the pandemic". During the last week of July 2020,
flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hist ...
airline
Aerolíneas Argentinas Aerolíneas Argentinas, formally Aerolíneas Argentinas S.A., is Argentina's largest airline and the country flag carrier. The airline was created in 1949 from the merger of four companies and started operations in . A consortium led by Iberia ...
sold over 188 thousand tickets, with the company reporting that 54 per cent of passengers bought their tickets to travel from December 2020 to March 2021, while another 27 per cent did so to travel between September and November 2020. On 22 September 2020,
low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...
s such as
Flybondi FB Líneas Aéreas S.A., operating as Flybondi, is a low-cost airline in Argentina. The airline, the first of its kind in the country, operates Boeing 737-800 aircraft, with bases in Buenos Aires and Córdoba. All aircraft are registered in Arge ...
,
JetSmart Argentina JetSmart Airlines S.A., styled as JetSMART, is an Argentine airline owned by ultra low-cost carrier JetSmart, itself owned by Indigo Partners, a firm that also has stakes in US-based Frontier Airlines, Mexico-based Volaris, and Hungary-based Wi ...
, and legacy airline Aerolíneas Argentinas confirmed that they had moved the dates of their flights with 12 October as the expected restart date, while the
Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government age ...
assured that regular
domestic flight A domestic flight is a form of commercial flight within civil aviation where the departure and the arrival take place in the same country. Airports serving domestic flights only are known as domestic airports. Domestic flights are generally ...
s would resume in November 2020. Two days later, it was announced that
American Airlines American Airlines is a major US-based airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. It is the largest airline in the world when measured by fleet size, scheduled passengers carried, and revenue passeng ...
would resume its daily flights to Miami since 7 October 2020, on a special flights schedule including two weekly flights to
Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...
and
Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whose ...
de Chile, three flights a month to New York City, four weekly flights to
São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for ' Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...
, and flights to
Lima Lima ( ; ), originally founded as Ciudad de Los Reyes (City of The Kings) is the capital and the largest city of Peru. It is located in the valleys of the Chillón, Rímac and Lurín Rivers, in the desert zone of the central coastal part of th ...
(three per month) and
Asunción Asunción (, , , Guarani: Paraguay) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of ...
(two per month). The country resumed regular domestic flights on 22 October 2020 after an interruption of seven months, with protocols requiring passengers to wear face-masks and have travel certificates. Some provinces also required COVID-19 tests with negative result before boarding aircraft or arriving. On 26 December 2020, the country limited the entry to the country again due to the new COVID-19 strains across the globe, and the rising of infections. The measures were expected to last until 28 January 2021. This was expected to last until September 2021.


Social impact

Argentina was reported to be among the countries in the region whose population adhered to the lockdown the most. Apple reported a decrease of 83 per cent on vehicular mobility through 26 April 2020, although 4,900 people were arrested across the country for violating the lockdown. According to Google, since the lockdown, people movement in restaurants, shopping centers, cinemas and museums dropped by 86 per cent, the presence of mobile phones on public transportation dropped 80 per cent, and in offices a 57 per cent. The presence in residential zones increased by 27 per cent.


Education

Schools and universities closed indefinitely after the president's announcement of the lockdown. In response to the pandemic, classes moved to online distance learning. 14 million students have been affected by the school closures. Later, the government announced that was evaluating how they would open the schools in the future, and that they were working on the distribution of netbooks to students that do not have access to computers, with the criteria for distributing them based on socioeconomic indicators. On 9 June 2020, the
Ministry of Education An education ministry is a national or subnational government agency politically responsible for education. Various other names are commonly used to identify such agencies, such as Ministry of Education, Department of Education, and Ministry of Pub ...
expressed that 85 per cent of students would be able to return to classes in August, though with special hygiene measures in place, but schools in the Greater Buenos Aires area would have to wait until infections in the region begin to drop off. Three months later, on 3 August 2020, the Ministry of Education confirmed that the provinces of Catamarca, San Juan and Santiago del Estero would begin a process of returning to class under a system that would involve dividing students into groups that could attend classrooms in weekly shifts. On that day, schools of Catamarca and Santiago del Estero opened with directive, administrative and teaching personnel from the last years of primary and secondary levels, that were expected to prepare protocols to restart classes on 18 August 2020. Over 10,000 students in
San Juan San Juan, Spanish for Saint John, may refer to: Places Argentina * San Juan Province, Argentina * San Juan, Argentina, the capital of that province * San Juan, Salta, a village in Iruya, Salta Province * San Juan (Buenos Aires Underground), ...
became the first to return to face-to-face classes through social distancing on 10 August 2020. The Minister of Education, Nicolás Trotta, also announced that classes would end throughout the country in December 2020 as expected. During October 2020, the opening of educational institutions was confirmed by the Government of the City of Buenos Aires. Students of the last years of primary and secondary public schools would be able to assist voluntarily to the institutions, with protocols indicating that there will not be more than 10 people together, with an assistance of between two and four days per week, from one to four hours, in outdoor spaces. Private schools in the City of Buenos Aires were also allowed to return to face-to-face activities since 16 October 2020. One week later, the first case of a COVID-19 positive school worker was confirmed in a school in
Barracas, Buenos Aires Barracas is a ''barrio'', or district, in the southeast part of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is located between the railroad of Ferrocarril General Manuel Belgrano and the Riachuelo River, and the streets ''Regimiento de Patricios'', ...
, where the school had to close due to the protocols. School activities in the Province of Buenos Aires were also confirmed by governor Kicillof to begin in October in 24 municipalities, and finally restarted for senior year students in 15 small districts, while in other 79 bigger districts only "rebonding" school activities were allowed. A private report estimated in November that 34% of Argentine students were allowed to attend these "rebonding" school activities, while 1% of them were in fact attending in-person classes at the time. In November 2020, the City of Buenos Aires allowed a progressive back to school for all students, and then announced that the 2021 school year would start earlier than usual, on 17 February 2020, with teachers unions protesting against the reopening of schools. The Province of Buenos Aires allowed school activities in 32 bigger districts during November 2020. Finally, on 17 February 2021, schools re-opened to students in five out of the 24 jurisdictions.


Criminality

During the pandemic, robberies and homicide went down during the lockdown in most of the country, and increased again as time passed and some restrictions were lifted. In the City of Buenos Aires, under the strictest lockdown, crime went down a 48 per cent during the first quarter of the year, and a 56 per cent during July 2020, but violence on those crimes increased. In the Province of Buenos Aires, also under strict lockdown, 5,980 armed thefts were reported during the first 97 days of the lockdown, against 13,878 on the same period of the previous year. Also, 201 murders (16 less than in 2019), and 120 attacks with injured victims (against 197 from the previous year) were reported. In Greater Buenos Aires, an increase in crimes committed by people with no previous record was seen. They were qualified as "survival crime by the Minister of Security of the province, Sergio Berni. To deal with this increase in crime, an "Immediate Response Taskforce" was created for the
Federal Police A law enforcement agency (LEA) is any government agency responsible for the enforcement of the laws. Jurisdiction LEAs which have their ability to apply their powers restricted in some way are said to operate within a jurisdiction. LEAs ...
, and
gendarmes Wrong info! --> A gendarmerie () is a military force with law enforcement duties among the civilian population. The term ''gendarme'' () is derived from the medieval French expression ', which translates to "men-at-arms" (literally, " ...
were deployed in the area. The national Minister of Security, Sabina Frederic, stated that, even though in the first days of lockdown crime had gone down a lot, as the health precautions relaxed, crime increased, especially the violence used. In the Buenos Aires' Atlantic coast, a popular summertime vacation place, there was a wave of thefts against summer houses. This was fuelled by the lockdown and how difficult it was for the house owners (most of them from Greater Buenos Aires) to access their properties and reinforce security. On 7 September 2020,
Buenos Aires Provincial Police The Buenos Aires Provincial Police ( Spanish: ''Policía de la Provincia de Buenos Aires'', informally ''Policía Bonaerense'') is the police service responsible for policing the Province of Buenos Aires, in Argentina. It is one of the biggest po ...
protests spiked through the province, fuelled by having to deal with COVID-19 in the
front line A front line (alternatively front-line or frontline) in military terminology is the position(s) closest to the area of conflict of an armed force's personnel and equipment, usually referring to land forces. When a front (an intentional or uninte ...
, while not being provided any
personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, ele ...
and earning a monthly minimum wage of 40,000
pesos The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...
(about 430 U.S. dollars), with
overtime Overtime is the amount of time someone works beyond normal working hours. The term is also used for the pay received for this time. Normal hours may be determined in several ways: *by custom (what is considered healthy or reasonable by society), ...
being paid at 50 pesos (2,30 U.S. dollars) per hour. Police stopped patrolling, responding only to urgent 911 emergency calls.


Slums

Argentina has a long-standing housing access and
slums A slum is a highly populated urban residential area consisting of densely packed housing units of weak build quality and often associated with poverty. The infrastructure in slums is often deteriorated or incomplete, and they are primarily ...
problem, which was only worsened by the pandemic. Special testing and containment efforts had to be put in place in lower-income neighbourhoods, mostly after outbreaks in Buenos Aires (Villa 31 and Barrio Mujica) and
Quilmes Quilmes () is a city on the coast of the Rio de la Plata, in the , on the south east of the Greater Buenos Aires. The city was founded in 1666 and it is the seat of the eponymous county. With a population of 230,810, it is located south of the ...
(Villa Azul and Villa Itatí) shantytowns. These areas, with scarce access to water and ventilation, as well as overcrowding, make complying to the mandatory lockdown difficult and facilitate the COVID-19 rapid spread. The ''DetectAr'' testing campaign in Buenos Aires' slums included research of housing conditions and the taking of samples in common areas (such as meal centers) for RT-qPCR tests, which showed high SARS-CoV-2 prevalence. The COVID-19 crisis also increased "land occupations" by
social movement A social movement is a loosely organized effort by a large group of people to achieve a particular goal, typically a Social issue, social or political one. This may be to carry out a social change, or to resist or undo one. It is a type of Group ...
s, in which they forcefully appropriated lands to establish slums. This was also favoured by laws suspending evictions as a relief measure for the crisis. It has been estimated that, by September 2020, of both private and
public land In all modern states, a portion of land is held by central or local governments. This is called public land, state land, or Crown land ( Australia, and Canada). The system of tenure of public land, and the terminology used, varies between countr ...
s had been usurped in the Buenos Aires Province, the most notable one being located in
Guernica Guernica (, ), official name (reflecting the Basque language) Gernika (), is a town in the province of Biscay, in the Autonomous Community of the Basque Country, Spain. The town of Guernica is one part (along with neighbouring Lumo) of the m ...
, comprising about . Housing projects, which had been unfinished for years, were also occupied in some areas. This sparkled political criticism both from the insides of the government, as well from the political opposition, with the Security Minister of the Province of Buenos Aires suggesting that occupations were organised by social movements from inside the governing coalition. Justice started investigations on this possible involvement. Some government members initially refused evictions of occupied land, but days later turned into a more critical view. Other sectors of society claimed occupations should not be evicted, and that unused lands should be distributed to the most needed. In the Patagonia region, occupations by people referencing themselves as
Mapuche The Mapuche ( (Mapuche & Spanish: )) are a group of indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging ethnicity composed of various groups who sh ...
s also surged amid the pandemic. One of a National Parks area in Villa Mascardi received the biggest national media attention. This caused demonstrations of people against the occupation, which ended in the National Minister of Security starting legal complaints against the demonstrators.


Public transportation

The government imposed a series of measurements for public transportation (taxis, buses and train services) focused on the hygiene of the units and recommendation of travel only if it's essential. Public transportation services offered a Saturday-schedule until the start of the "administrated lockdown" on 13 April 2020. Since this day, all public transportation services returned to the normal schedules, but still maintaining the hygiene measures to prevent the spread of the virus. On 4 May 2020, the government announced a new protocol that orders that public transportation will only occupy 60 per cent of its capacity. The combis and mini-buses services will also begin to work again since the begin of the mandatory lockdown. After the use of public transportation in
Greater Buenos Aires Greater Buenos Aires ( es, Gran Buenos Aires, GBA), also known as the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area ( es, Área Metropolitana de Buenos Aires, AMBA), refers to the urban agglomeration comprising the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires and the adjac ...
grew by 60 per cent in early June 2020, the government announced new measures to allow only "essential workers" for the use of train, bus and underground services. Train passengers were forced to reserve seats to travel since 29 June 2020. Under the lockdown tightening that came into effect on 1 July 2020, public transportation use in Greater Buenos Aires dropped by 30 per cent (around 300,000 passengers) on the first days compared versus the previous week. On 4 August 2020, the
Sarmiento Line The Sarmiento line is a broad gauge commuter rail service in Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, run by the state-owned Trenes Argentinos since 11 September 2013. History This line had previously been run by the state-owned company Ferrocarril ...
of train interrupted its service after COVID-19 cases were detected among its employees. 36 workers tested positive for the virus and 130 people had to be isolated. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the line accumulated 56 confirmed cases of COVID-19 to that date.


Human rights

As for the human rights situation, claims were made on
police brutality Police brutality is the excessive and unwarranted use of force by law enforcement against an individual or a group. It is an extreme form of police misconduct and is a civil rights violation. Police brutality includes, but is not limited to, ...
, an increase of
domestic violence Domestic violence (also known as domestic abuse or family violence) is violence or other abuse that occurs in a domestic setting, such as in a marriage or cohabitation. ''Domestic violence'' is often used as a synonym for ''intimate partner v ...
,
human trafficking Human trafficking is the trade of humans for the purpose of forced labour, sexual slavery, or commercial sexual exploitation for the trafficker or others. This may encompass providing a spouse in the context of forced marriage, or the extrac ...
, and the right to
freedom of movement Freedom of movement, mobility rights, or the right to travel is a human rights concept encompassing the right of individuals to travel from place to place within the territory of a country,Jérémiee Gilbert, ''Nomadic Peoples and Human Rights ...
. Particularly, two cases of police brutality received substantial attention on national media: the death of Luis Espinoza, who was killed by the Tucumán Provincial Police during a control of lockdown abidance, and the disappearance of Facundo Astudillo Castro, who was later found dead near
Bahía Blanca Bahía Blanca (; English: White Bay) is a city in the southwest of the province of Buenos Aires, Argentina, by the Atlantic Ocean, and is the seat of government of the Bahía Blanca Partido. It had 301,572 inhabitants according to the . It is th ...
, after being stopped several times by the Buenos Aires Provincial Police for not complying with the lockdown measures. Police involvement in the latter is suspected but has yet not been proven. The UN made claims to the Argentine government on these cases. Mobility was heavily restricted, with strict checkpoints in province's borders, which allowed entrance only on a limited number of cases with a permit. Dirt barricades were built in some cities' entrances. This led to cases of citizens not being able to greet a family member on their deathbed despite having the required permits, and patients dying due to ambulances not being allowed to enter another province. Some people had to camp in the provincial borders. It was estimated that around 8,000 people were stranded trying to access the
Formosa Province Formosa Province () is a province in northeastern Argentina, part of the Gran Chaco Region. Formosa's northeast end touches Asunción, Paraguay, and the province borders the provinces of Chaco and Salta to its south and west, respectively. The ...
, which led to a ruling of the
Supreme Court of Argentina The Supreme Court of Argentina ( es, link=no, Corte Suprema de Argentina), officially known as the Supreme Court of Justice of the Argentine Nation ( es, link=no, Corte Suprema de Justicia de la Nación Argentina, CSJN), is the highest court of ...
stating they should be granted access. Truck drivers also criticised the roadblocks and lockdown control measures in roads, stating they had to wait for up to 20 hours in police checkpoints, and considering the measures as inhumane, among other reasons, for being unable to make bathroom stops for hours.
Commercial flights Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation. Definition Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and ae ...
were restricted from April to the end of October 2020, following one of the longest lockdowns worldwide, and causing criticism from the
International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is a trade association of the world's airlines founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff ...
.


Media

Since the start of the national lockdown,
broadcast television Broadcast television systems (or terrestrial television systems outside the US and Canada) are the encoding or formatting systems for the transmission and reception of terrestrial television signals. Analog television systems were standardized by ...
saw a 30 per cent increase of viewership during the week between 17 and 22 March 2020. The networks increased the airtime of talk shows and
news program News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televis ...
ming, while
reality shows Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...
were still in production. A fundraising special show aimed to the
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, an ...
for supplying hospitals and health centers aired throughout all six broadcast networks (
América TV América TV (call sign LS 86 TV) is an Argentine television station broadcasting on channel 2 in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and one of Argentina's five national television networks. It is owned by Grupo América. América TV ...
,
Televisión Pública Televisión Pública (''Public Television'', abbreviated TVP) is a publicly owned Argentine television network, the national public broadcaster. It began broadcasting in 1951, when LR3 Radio Belgrano Televisión channel 7 in Buenos Aires, its ke ...
,
El Nueve Channel 9, known by its brand name El Nueve (stylized as elnueve) is an Argentine free-to-air television network based in Buenos Aires with programming centred on general entertainment. History Origins and first Romay ownership After the fall of ...
,
Telefe Telefe (acronym for Televisión Federal) is a television station located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The station is owned and operated by Paramount Global through Televisión Federal S.A. Telefe is also one of Argentina's six national television ...
,
El Trece Channel 13 (known by its current brand name El Trece, stylized as eltrece) is an Argentine free-to-air television network and the flagship station of the network of the same name, located in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires. It is owned by ...
and Net TV) on 5 April 2020. The show, called ''"United for Argentina"'', included celebrities and famous people from the Argentine media. Donations reached a total of 87,938,624
Argentine peso The peso (established as the ''peso convertible'') is the currency of Argentina, identified by the symbol $ preceding the amount in the same way as many countries using peso or dollar currencies. It is subdivided into 100 ''centavos''. Its ISO 42 ...
s (ARS). The only
telenovela A telenovela is a type of a television serial drama or soap opera produced primarily in Latin America. The word combines ''tele'' (for "television") and ''novela'' (meaning "novel"). Similar drama genres around the world include ''teleserye'' ...
that was airing on broadcast television before the beginning of the pandemic, '' Separadas'' (from
El Trece Channel 13 (known by its current brand name El Trece, stylized as eltrece) is an Argentine free-to-air television network and the flagship station of the network of the same name, located in the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires. It is owned by ...
), was removed from the schedule after its 19 March 2020 airing and production was suspended temporarily. Two months later, producing company
Pol-ka Pol-ka Producciones is a television and film production company in Buenos Aires, Argentina, commonly referred to as Pol-ka. The company was launched in 1994 and is owned by Adrián Suar, Fernando Blanco and Artear (Clarín Group). The first t ...
definitely cancelled the show due to "economic reasons", leaving Argentine television without any scripted programming. The first cases of COVID-19 reached Argentine television in June 2020. The first confirmed case was from
El Nueve Channel 9, known by its brand name El Nueve (stylized as elnueve) is an Argentine free-to-air television network based in Buenos Aires with programming centred on general entertainment. History Origins and first Romay ownership After the fall of ...
's sports journalist Guillermo Ferro. Later, three producers from
Telefe Telefe (acronym for Televisión Federal) is a television station located in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The station is owned and operated by Paramount Global through Televisión Federal S.A. Telefe is also one of Argentina's six national television ...
's '' El Precio Justo'' were also diagnosed, making the show to enter on
hiatus Hiatus may refer to: * Hiatus (anatomy), a natural fissure in a structure * Hiatus (stratigraphy), a discontinuity in the age of strata in stratigraphy *''Hiatus'', a genus of picture-winged flies with sole member species '' Hiatus fulvipes'' * G ...
and schedule
rerun A rerun or repeat is a rebroadcast of an episode of a radio or television program. There are two types of reruns – those that occur during a hiatus, and those that occur when a program is syndicated. Variations In the United Kingdom, the wor ...
s to air instead. ''El Precio Justo'' hostess Lizy Tagliani later reported that she was diagnosed positive for COVID-19. Telefe also announced that talk show '' Cortá por Lozano'' would be broadcast with the hostess and panellists from their homes as a preventive measure. An employee from
América TV América TV (call sign LS 86 TV) is an Argentine television station broadcasting on channel 2 in La Plata, Buenos Aires Province, Argentina, and one of Argentina's five national television networks. It is owned by Grupo América. América TV ...
was also diagnosed with COVID-19 on 18 June 2020. On 27 June 2020,
news channel News broadcasting is the medium of broadcasting various news events and other information via television, radio, or the internet in the field of broadcast journalism. The content is usually either produced locally in a radio studio or televi ...
C5N Canal 5 Noticias ("Channel 5 News", also known as C5N) is an Argentine Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish (masculine) or (feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection ...
implemented a protocol to prevent new infections after one of their journalists, Fernanda Arena, tested positive for COVID-19. Through the beginning of September, several journalists, hosts, crew and famous personalities from television and radio tested positive for the virus. Santiago del Moro,
Catherine Fulop Catherine Amanda Fulop García (born March 11, 1965) is a Venezuelan actress, model, beauty pageant contestant, television presenter and radio host. She participated in the Miss Venezuela 1986, finishing as the fourth runner–up and in Mis ...
,
Guido Kaczka Guido Martín Kaczka (born 2 February 1978) is an Argentine actor, television presenter, television producer and radio host. Biography Guido Kaczka was born in Moreno, Buenos Aires on February 2, 1978, and grew up in the Buenos Aires distric ...
, Andy Kusnetzoff, Alejandro Fantino, Baby Etchecopar, Eduardo Feinmann, Nicole Neumann and Maju Lozano were among the people from the Argentine media that have been tested positive.


Sports

On 12 March 2020,
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' ( French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was foun ...
announced that the first two rounds of the South American qualification for the 2022 World Cup due to take place during that month were postponed to later dates. The same day, CONMEBOL announced that the Copa Libertadores would be temporarily suspended. Later, on 17 March 2020, CONMEBOL announced that the 2020 edition of Copa América was postponed to 2021. On 13 March, the 2020 running of
Rally Argentina The Rally Argentina ( es, Rally de Argentina) is an Argentine rally competition that has been a round of the World Rally Championship, the Intercontinental Rally Challenge, the South American Rally Championship and the Argentine Rally Championsh ...
was postponed. The
MotoGP Grand Prix motorcycle racing is the premier class of motorcycle road racing events held on road circuits sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM). Independent motorcycle racing events have been held since the start o ...
's ''Gran Premio Motul de la Republica Argentina'' was also scheduled to take place during the year but was later cancelled on 31 July. On 15 March 2020, President Fernández announced that, among other measures, he intended to keep football matches ongoing but without audience. The first match suspended by the
Argentine Football Association The Argentine Football Association ( es, Asociación del Fútbol Argentino, ; AFA) is the governing body of football in Argentina based in Buenos Aires. It organises the main divisions of Argentine league system (from Primera División to Torn ...
(AFA) was between
Club Atlético Independiente Club Atlético Independiente () is an Argentine professional sports club, which has its headquarters and stadium in the city of Avellaneda in Greater Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its football team, which plays in the Primera Divisi ...
and Club Villa Mitre from the
Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA), with the aim of qua ...
. It was supposed to be played on 17 March, but was moved to 1 April 2020. On that same day, every football category was suspended indefinitely, being the match between
Club Atlético Colón Club Atlético Colón de Santa Fe (), commonly referred to as Colón de Santa Fe , is a sports club from Santa Fe, Argentina. The football team plays in the First Division of the Argentine football league system, the Argentine Primera Divisió ...
and
Rosario Central Club Atlético Rosario Central () is a sports club based in Rosario, Argentina, that plays in the Argentine Primera División. The club was officially founded on December 24, 1889, by a group of railway workers, taking its name from the English- ...
(for the Superliga) the last played, on 16 March 2020. After months of uncertainty, a tentative date for the return of football was announced. It was expected that since 31 July 2020, the teams would be able to return to practice after the players, coaching staff and club employees are tested, following the steps that were taken in European football, making the tournament to return on mid-September. Later, on 4 August 2020, the Argentine Football Association announced that after health protocols were approved by the government, practices of the Men's First Division and Women's First Division would definitely return on 10 August, later being joined by the First National on 2 September and the rest of the categories on 7 September 2020. Before returning to practice, several clubs such as
Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the Arge ...
, River Plate, Independiente,
Racing In sport, racing is a competition of speed, in which competitors try to complete a given task in the shortest amount of time. Typically this involves traversing some distance, but it can be any other task involving speed to reach a specific goa ...
,
San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Monte San Lorenzo, a mountain on the border betwee ...
and Vélez Sársfield, among others, tested its players with positive results for COVID-19. On 18 August 2021, the Minister of Tourism and Sports, Matías Lammens, announced that football with spectators would return between late September and early October, with sporting venues limited to reach 30 percent capacity.


Statistics


See also

*
COVID-19 pandemic by country and territory This is a general overview and status of places affected by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus which causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID-19) and is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic. The first hum ...
*
COVID-19 pandemic in South America The COVID-19 pandemicpandemic was confirmed to have reached South America on 26 February 2020 when Brazil confirmed a case in São Paulo. By 3 April, all countries and territories in South America had recorded at least one case. On 13 May ...
*
COVID-19 misinformation False information, including intentional disinformation and conspiracy theories, about the scale of the COVID-19 pandemic and the origin, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of the disease has been spread through social media, text messagi ...
* 2020 in Argentina * 2021 in Argentina * COVID-19 vaccination in Argentina *
Living with COVID-19 the global COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing, but the disease may shift from a pandemic stage to an endemic stage in the future. Endemicity is characterized by people continuing to be infected and becoming ill, but in relatively stable numbers ...


References


External links


COVID-19 Global Cases
an
historical data
by
Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consiste ...
. {{Portal bar, COVID-19, Argentina, Medicine, Viruses
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
Disease outbreaks in Argentina 2020 in Argentina 2021 in Argentina 2022 in Argentina