Government extends health emergency for rest of 2021

Argentina's government has rolled over the heath emergency for the coronavirus pandemic until the end of 2021, in a decree signed by President Alberto Fernández and published in the Official Gazette on Thursday afternoon.

The health emergency was declared by the government exactly a year ago yesterday via Decree N° 260, which extended "for the period of one year the public health emergency established by Law 27.541 in view of the pandemic declared by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in relation to coronavirus Covid-19," also naming the Health Ministry as "the authority of application."

The emergency will thus continue nationwide for over 21 months at least.

"During the time since the start of the policies adopted to protect the health of the population, the state has not only improved the capacity of the health system and increased the acquisition of the necessary equipment but also simultaneously implemented measures to soften the socio-economic impact caused by the Covid-19 pandemic," indicated the decree.

The government again "recommends restricting journeys to or from the affected zones and those with the greatest risk, authorising the corresponding instances to intervene to implement this restriction."

The decree also authorises "contracting ex-officials or retired staff, exempting them from the régime of incompatibilities in public administration."
"In the face of the health and epidemiological crisis, a régime of certifying provisional specialists who have yet to complete their degrees in health sciences is established, following the intervention of the Health Ministry and certification by healthcare establishments, as required," adds the decree.

Last Monday WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared a health emergency for all Latin America after a new variant of Covid-19 was detected in Brazil.

"The situation is very serious and we are very worried. Brazil’s health measures should be aggressive while at the same time advancing in vaccination," said the WHO chief while adding: "The worry not only concerns Brazil but also its neighbours" and pointing out: "And that’s almost all South America."

– TIMES/NA