SANTIAGO, Jan. 26 (Xinhua) -- Chile reported 3,322 new cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and 24 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's total caseload to 706,500 and national death toll to 18,023, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.
According to the ministry, of the total cases, 25,659 are in the active or contagious phase, while 662,460 have recovered.
Currently, 1,287 patients are hospitalized in intensive care units, including 1,089 on ventilators and 75 in critical condition.
According to the report from the ministry, hospital occupancy has increased, particularly in the northern and southern regions of the country, leading to the need to airlift critical patients to the capital Santiago for treatment.
Specialists have expressed their concern about the evolution of the pandemic, calling for quarantines with state economic support and more COVID-19 testing.
They have also requested that travel between regions be banned and that the South American country's borders be closed to foreign tourists in order to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 and avoid the entry of new variants of the coronavirus.
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