Argentine President Alberto Fernandez highlights efforts to tackle COVID-19 hardships

Argentine President Alberto Fernandez on Saturday said that some of the measures taken by his government to tackle the impact of COVID-19 shutdowns have helped control the poverty rate in the country. Fernandez particularly highlighted programmes, including the 'Emergency Family Income' and 'Assistance for Work and Production', which oversaw the distribution of one-time payment of 10,000 pesos to low-income families and covered wages of workers whose companies were hit by the nationwide lockdown. 

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Fernandez said that without these programmes, the country's poverty rate would have surged rapidly, pushing millions into despair. According to the Argentinian government, more than 9 million people have been reached through social security programmes since the start of the pandemic. The government increased assistance to food banks including at schools to cover the most vulnerable during the lockdown. Fernandez also levied a special tax on millionaires amid the pandemic to fund the social projects.

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Fernandez urges people to follow protocols 

Even though the COVID-19 lockdown has been lifted in most parts of the country, Fernandez warned the people to not lower their guards as the risk from the disease is still looming large. Fernandez cautioned people to celebrate the upcoming holidays with the utmost respect for the health safety protocols, including social distancing. Christmas holidays and summer vacation across Argentina are going to begin later this month. 

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Argentina is one of the worst affected countries in the world by COVID-19 pandemic and second worst-hit in Latin America. The country has registered more than 1.5 million confirmed COVID-19 cases so far, while 41,763 people have lost their lives. According to Argentina's Health Ministry, it has so far conducted 4.4 million tests across the nation. 

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(With inputs from ANI)