Analytical summary of the Chilean experience of the COVID-19 pandemic, 2020-2022
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56116/cms.v62.n3.2022.374Keywords:
COVID-19, epidemiology, lethality, reproductive numberAbstract
Goal. To carry out a critical analysis of the two and a half year evolution of the pandemic in Chile, evaluating its relationship with socio-cultural aspects of this country and with the strategies used to mitigate the pandemic.
Methods. We analyzed official data reported by the Chilean Ministry of Health: daily new confirmed cases, cases that required admission to intensive care units (ICUs), deaths attributed to COVID-19, and positive tests (RT-PCR) for SARS. CoV-2. We estimate the reproductive number and lethality throughout the pandemic.
Results. We found four epidemic periods: 1) A first epidemic concentrated in the Metropolitan Region in 2020; 2) A major epidemic throughout the country in 2021, 3) A short-lived outbreak in November-December 2021) and 4) A major epidemic outbreak associated with the O variant. The pandemic has produced high lethality and mortality and a great impact on Health System. The dynamic has been strongly influenced by the typical social movements of Chile, such as vacation periods, festivities and overcrowding. The viral variants of SARS CoV-2 have played an important role in transmission, dominating the original variant (WIV04/2019), and the α variant (UK; B.1.1.7) in the RM Epidemic, the γ variants (P .1) and the Andean variant (λ; C.37) in Epidemic 20/21 and the δ and O variants in the last two outbreaks.
Conclusions Despite vaccination efforts and intervention with non-pharmacological measures, the pandemic in Chile has caused a great impact on the population and hospitals. The strategy was affected in 2020 and 2021 by sociocultural aspects and by the rapid lifting of restrictions under the assumption that population immunity as a result of vaccination would allow a tolerable incidence for health systems. In 2022, it has been strongly dominated by the Omicron variant, with high transmission and low lethality, similar to that of the Influenza epidemics.
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