The Health Ministry said Monday that a total of 36 new cases of the novel coronavirus had been registered over the last 24 hours, taking the total number of confirmed cases to 301.
Four people have died as a result of being infected with the virus to date.
Monday's number is a slight drop on the previous day, during which 41 new cases were registered in Argentina. On Saturday, the daily tally had run as high as 67.
"At the moment, in Argentina the majority of cases are imported, local transmission is detected among groups and cases of possible community transmission that are
under investigation are identified," read a statement from the Health Ministry.
"In our country, strategies for containment and mitigation of mortality and transmission coexist," said the portfolio, which is headed by Dr Ginés González García.
Of the new confirmed cases, 11 are from Buenos Aires City, five are in Buenos Aires Province, three are from Córdoba and four are from Chaco. Santa Fe Province registered the highest amount with 13.
The total number of confirmed cases in Argentina is 301, officials said, confirming that one previously listed case had been a duplicate.
Of the four deceased (three men, one woman), two are from the capital, one is from Chaco and one is from Luján, Buenos Aires Province.
Earlier on Monday, health officials confirmed that the first cases of community transmission of the novel coronavirus have been recorded in Argentina.
The announcement was made at the Health Ministry's daily press conference on the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Community transmission, otherwise known as community spread, refers to when the source of an infection is unknown – i.e. experts are unable to be traced the infection back to someone who travelled to an affected area overseas, or someone who got the virus through contact with an individual who was infected.
Health Access Secretary Carla Vizzotti told reporters at a press conference that "community transmission" of Covid-19 is beginning, particularly in Buenos Aires City and its surroundings, as well as "some cities in Chaco, Tierra del Fuego and Córdoba.”
In a bid to slow the spread of the coronavirus pandemic, President Alberto Fernández last week ordered a "preventive and mandatory" isolation, effective until the end of the month.
– TIMES/AFP
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