Peru and Argentina extend quarantine measures

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra announced on Wednesday that the state of emergency will be extended until April 26.

Vizcarra explained the decision has been taken after analyzing various reports submitted by the Ministry of Health and by his professional team of advisors.

3,614 positive cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in the country out of a total of 23,255 tests. The number of deaths from COVID-19 is now 107.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks.

For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and could lead to death.

Meanwhile, in Argentina, President Alberto Fernández visited a makeshift hospital and some of the country's frontline medical care workers on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.

The building, situated in Lanús, was initially built as a school, but it has been turned into a hospital to treat people with COVID-19 presenting mild symptoms.

In Argentina, there are 1,715 infected and 63 deaths.

President Alberto Fernández indicated that the general quarantine will be extended beyond April 12, when it was scheduled to end, without providing a specific date.

Fernández made the remarks in an interview with local television, stressing that thanks to the mandatory isolation in force since March 19 Argentina had managed to spread the contagion more slowly than in other countries considered high risk.

Fernández also estimated that the peak of the pandemic is likely to occur in late May.