Argentina hospitals nearly full due to virus variant

As Argentina experienced record COVID-19 daily death tolls of more than 500 this week, hospitals are struggling to keep up with the extreme demand. At the municipal Llavallol Hospital in the outskirts of Buenos Aires, all 13 beds in the intensive care unit for coronavirus patients were occupied.

The rest of the hospital was also running at over 90% capacity which, combined with the resources allocated towards COVID-19, created a backlog that reached the emergency room. Some patients had to be treated on stretchers in the hallway. The hospital's director Patricio Mautone said he was worried the latest devastating wave of the virus would "overwhelm us".

Mautone suggested the increasing prevalence of the variant of the virus first discovered in the Brazilian city of Manaus could be playing a role in the severity of the wave. Argentina's President Alberto Fernández said Friday procuring vaccines was his daily priority.

Concerned by the pressure on the health system and a lack of available hospital beds, the government set up a military field hospital in the western part of Buenos Aires. New restrictions have recently been put in place, including the suspension of school classes and a night-time curfew in the capital city and its surrounding area, the first measures of their kind since last year. By Friday, Argentina had reported 2.8 million coronavirus cases and more than 61,000 deaths linked to COVID-19.