News of quarantine

Covid-19 hits Mar del Plata, as pandemic surges in Argentina

19-10-2020 07:00 Mar del Plata has become an epicentre in a coronavirus surge through Argentina's interior that has given the country the fifth-highest confirmed case total in the world.

Discovering good in the ill wind

17-10-2020 09:15 I think many people must have had a journey of discovery thanks to the quarantine. I have had many glorious awakenings to fascinating people, places and subjects while looking up the most prosaic things.

by Robert Cox

Latin America's cities bustle like Covid is gone – but it’s not

20-09-2020 21:57 In Latin America’s big cities, as in other places around the globe, it almost feels like the virus never happened.

Government extends coronavirus lockdown until October 11

19-09-2020 08:33 Government warns citizens not to relax as infections reach 613,000. Buenos Aires City to relax some measures as surge in cases draws attention to inland provinces.

Judge confirms found remains belong to Facundo Astudillo Castro

03-09-2020 04:11 Bahía Blanca Federal Judge María Gabriela Marrón confirms remains of a skeleton found earlier this month belong to missing 22-year-old, who was last seen alive on April 30.

Reports: Autopsy results show found remains belong to Facundo Castro

31-08-2020 19:25 Multiple local news outlets report that remains found in Villarino, near Bahía Blanca, are from body of missing 22-year-old, who was last seen alive on April 30.

Anti-government protesters defy virus lockdown to rally

17-08-2020 21:59 Large crowds of demonstrators take to the streets, in cities across the country, on to protest lockdown extension and government's proposed judicial reform bill.

Fernández promises Facundo Castro's mother there will be 'no cover-up'

17-08-2020 16:29 President Alberto Fernández calls mother of missing 22-year-old Facundo Castro and vows there will be no cover-up, should the unidentified body found over the weekend prove to be her missing son's.

Youngsters in Latin America vent pandemic fury after lost 2020

12-08-2020 23:30 For four young adults across Latin America, 2020 was meant to be a year of freedom and opportunity. Instead, the coronavirus pandemic brought confinement and frustration. 

Search for Facundo Castro: Mother says she has no hope of finding him alive

06-08-2020 17:13 Cristina Castro says she has "no hope" her son will be found alive, as investigators uncover items in search for missing 22-year-old.

Judicial reform and jumping the queue

01-08-2020 09:07 The judicial reform bill announced this week suffers all the problems of Caesar’s wife – it must not only be honourable but seen to be so, a challenge which neither its context nor origin nor timing favour.

President extends Covid-19 lockdown ‘on same terms’ despite surge in cases

01-08-2020 08:47 ‘Cuarentena sin cambios’ – Lockdown in Buenos Aires metropolitan area extended until August 16, after week of record numbers of cases and fatalities.

Search continues for missing 22-year-old, UN calls for ‘exhaustive’ probe

18-07-2020 10:03 Facundo Astudillo Castro was last seen on April 30 after being stopped by police in Buenos Aires Province for breaching Covid-19 lockdown.

Deeper, harder, slower: Analysts forecast worst crisis since 2001

18-07-2020 09:37 Argentina’s GDP likely to slump by as much as 15 percent this year, experts warn, with economic activity only returning to pre-quarantine levels in December – if there is no increase in coronavirus cases.

by Mirta Fernandez

Colombia: Illegal groups using violence to enforce lockdowns

16-07-2020 23:27 Illegal armed militias are imposing strict Covid-19 quarantines in parts of Colombia where the state has a weak presence, threatening those who don’t comply, Human Rights Watch has warned.

Buquebus' floating lab tests passengers to protect both Uruguay and Argentina

15-07-2020 14:21 Buquebus has implemented a new testing scheme for every passenger seeking to board boats back and forth from Argentina to Uruguay.

Anti-government protesters rally against quarantine on 9 de Julio

10-07-2020 02:18 Opposition supporters descended on the Obelisk in downtown Buenos Aires on Thursday, staging a protest in defence of freedom and against the coronavirus lockdown. Event marred by outbreak of violence, as demonstrators attack TV van from pro-government news channel C5N.

Keep happy: Porteños try to make the most of quarantine

08-07-2020 14:57 Experts say quarantine measures have increased anxiety, uncertainty and feelings of extreme weariness. Some, however, have found a positive side to the pandemic.

Is isolation the best expression of independence?

04-07-2020 08:32 The pandemic is a curious ally of ultra-nationalism, feeding the notion that Covid-19 will destroy globalisation and the private sector in a world dictating a self-sufficiency of which very few countries can even dream.

Metropolitan area blues

04-07-2020 07:29 The display of bipartisan civility, even with disagreements behind the scenes between Buenos Aires City and Province, is now routine. Yet the volatility has not gone away.

by Martín Gambarotta