Argentina locks back down as coronavirus infections soar

Argentina is imposing its first strict coronavirus lockdown of the year starting Saturday due to surging levels of coronavirus infections and a soaring death toll

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Argentina is imposing its first strict coronavirus lockdown of the year starting Saturday due to surging levels of coronavirus infections and a soaring death toll. The measures, due to last until the end of the month, will limit circulation and suspend social, business, educational, religious and sporting activities. Workers with essential jobs will be exempted. “We are living the worst moment since the pandemic began,” President Alberto Fernández said in a televised message Thursday. “We are seeing the highest numbers of cases and deaths. We must take this critical situation seriously." At the start of the pandemic, Argentina imposed one of the world's longest quarantines between March and July. The negative impact that imposed on the economy — and the national mood — left the government with little room to maneuver. But a combination of vaccine scarcity and more contagious variants of the virus has put Argentina’s health sector again on the verge of collapse.