Chile reports 3,588 new daily cases of COVID-19, setting five-month high

SANTIAGO, Jan. 1 (Xinhua) -- Chile's Ministry of Health on Friday reported 3,588 new daily cases of the novel coronavirus disease, the highest daily figure since July 5 (3,685), raising the total caseload to 612,564.

In the daily pandemic report, Minister of Health Enrique Paris said 52 more patients died of the disease, bringing the death toll to 16,660.

Chile has seen a 14 percent rise in new cases in the last week, and a 31 percent rise in 14 days, with a second wave of outbreaks forecast for January potentially seeing a peak of up to 9,000 new cases a day, said Paris.

Currently, 794 people are hospitalized in intensive care units (ICU), including 611 on ventilators and 68 in critical condition.

Chile last week began to vaccinate essential healthcare workers, and aims to immunize all high-risk groups in the first quarter of the year.