Senators Guido Girardi and Pedro Araya, along with deputies Marcela Hernando and Catalina Pérez, the spokesman for the Calama social committee, Dr. Juan Carrillo; the president of the Federation of Copper Workers, Patricio Elgueta and union leaders Duncan Araya (supervisors) and Miguel Veliz (Chuquicamata) expressed their concern about the situation in the capital of the province of Loa due to the increase in cases of contagion of coronavirus.
As they affirmed, the positivity rate reaches 50% of the exams taken in hospitals and 80% in primary care.
That is why they asked to decree total quarantine in the Loa province, the closure of the Calama airport, prevent bus travel, gradually halt the Codelco division, northern district, install a modular hospital, and reinforce health personnel.
In this regard, Senator Girardi said that “the health strategy for the Antofagasta Region failed completely and particularly in Calama, where they are having unmanageable contagion figures if urgent measures are not taken.”
He asserted that “the region has, adding the probable cases, about three thousand assets that should be isolated in sanitary residences and not in their homes and there are only 250 people in these conditions, the rest, more than 90%, do not have the safeguards adequate toilets and will continue to spread. “
In addition, he indicated that “in Calama, adding the probable ones, there must be two thousand positive covid and between 10,000 and 20,000 nearby cases that should be in sanitary residences or in strict quarantines. But these only stop the speed of infection, but you have to turn off the key to contagions to contain the pandemic. ”
“The vast majority of those infected are workplace accidents because they were infected at their workplace or on the way. Here there is a notable abandonment of the responsibility of the mutuals and we must analyze their legal actions for their lack of commitment. ”
For his part, senator Pedro Araya said that “the situation in the province of El Loa is quite dramatic. In my opinion, this is because the government does not want to make decisions that we know will impact the economic issue of the country. “
And he added “the division of Codelco, northern district, must be paralyzed gradually, as copper leaders have proposed, with whom we have been in permanent contact these days. I also want to emphasize that the health network of the Antofagasta Region, and especially of the Loa province, is absolutely collapsed. A requirement towards the Government is to be able to have a modular hospital, but also with staff reinforcement ”.
In as much the doctor Juan Carrillo affirmed that “it is necessary to stop the mining activity because the concentration is not only in the task but also in trips. Other divisions have a very high proportion of workers who do not reside in the region. And the same goes for contractor companies. They are concentrated in places of food, lodging and recreation, where the virus is transmitted ”.
Patricio Elgueta, president of the FTC, said that “there is concealment of figures and we call on the authorities to make them transparent. The company blames workers for the health crisis but it is they who should ensure their workers’ health. Codelco must give a powerful signal, as a state company, that life is on the economic issue ”
Miguel Veliz from the Chuquicamata 3 union said that the “Codelco situation is a product of the mismanagement of its executives who threaten the workers without trying to paralyze the work for 14 days to carry out the effective quarantines.”
The leader Duncan Araya affirmed that “Codelco does not take care of the life or health of the workers. There are no special days. They do not take into account expert opinions; Discussing the length of the conference is the subject of experts and they say that it should be 14 x 14, there is a corporate policy for setting the conference. Engineers make health decisions and that cannot be. ”
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