Santiago de Chile, March 19 (RHC)-- The President of Chile, Sebastián Pinera, has announced that the State of Constitutional Exception for Catastrophe will govern for 90 days amid the global outbreak of the coronavirus (COVID-19).

According to Pinera, who spoke from the Palacio de La Moneda, this move "aims to prepare us to face the stages that come in this pandemic well."  "The coronavirus has become the greatest threat and challenge to public health worldwide and in the last century, with almost 180,000 confirmed cases of contagion and more than 7,400 deaths world," Pinera said on Wednesday. 

"In Chile, yesterday, we had 37 new cases, making it a total of 238 proven infections and 8 hospitalizations. However, no deaths recorded, thank God," he continued.  Another objective is "to safeguard the fulfillment of quarantines and social isolation measures." In addition, the head of state indicated that his government will prioritize "the production and distribution chain to guarantee the normal supply of goods for the population."

Among the goals of the president is to stop the spread of the virus, which has already claimed thousands of lives across the world.   Within this framework, it is expected that the government will appoint representatives of the armed forces to administer aid to different regions.