More than 50 residents at two care homes test positive for Covid-19

At least 52 people at two nursing homes in the capital have tested positive for the novel coronavirus, officials said Monday.

Forty individuals at an unidentified care home in Colegiales have been infected, the Buenos Aires City government confirmed, including residents and workers. 

Another 12 tested positive at the Geriátrico San Francisco in San Cristóbal, authorities confirmed.

The City Health Ministry said that all those infected had been taken to hospital for observation. Widespread testing at the sites has been ordered, while a "santiary operation" involving healthcare professionals will observe those who live at either of the nursing homes to follow their evolution.

Buenos Aires City and its surroundings are home to around 90 percent of all confirmed cases in Argentina to date.  As of Sunday evening, more than 16,000 cases have been confirmed across the country in total, with 541 fatalities recorded.

Care homes have been of particular concern to the government since the pandemic reached the capital, along with low-income neighbourhoods and villas, and prisons. 

Other care homes have faced similar mass diagnoses and many have shut their doors since the coronavirus pandemic arrived in Argentina.

– TIMES/AFP