Argentina's oldest person gets jab as cases surge

BUENOS AIRES: Authorities in the province of Buenos Aires increased restrictions on Tuesday amid concern about the "explosive increase" in COVID-19 cases.

It comes as the national government tries to speed up the arrival of vaccines.

In the beach-front city of Mar del Plata, authorities hurried to immunise elderly people at an art museum being used as a vaccination centre.

During the vaccination campaign in Mar del Plata, Casilda Ramona Benegas, 113, on Tuesday became the oldest person in Argentina to receive a COVID-19 vaccine.

In the capital Buenos Aires, authorities estimated cases increased by more than 30 percent compared with previous week, with about a million people currently infected.

Commercial and recreational activities at night are suspended, and social gatherings are limited to ten people.

Health authorities have already reported cases of three variants of the virus believed to have originated in the United Kingdom, Brazil and the US, and which are highly contagious.

The new findings prompted authorities to establish new measures, encouraging people to work remotely, closing land borders, and rescheduling the arrival of international flights.

As Argentina experiences the beginning of what is considered a second wave of contagion, authorities have struggled to guarantee the vaccine stock, slowing the immunisation plan..

In Argentina, some 2.3 million infections and more than 55,000 deaths from COVID-19 have been recorded so far.