Low Temperatures in Bolivia Force Winter Break to Be Extended
Children in a Bolivian primary school. Photo: X/ @ReporteChacoBo
July 18, 2024 Hour: 2:27 pm
Last week, the Health Ministry recorded 4,812 new cases of respiratory infections.
On Wednesday, the government of President Luis Arce decided to extend the winter school holidays for a second time due to an imminent drop in temperatures in the coming days.
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Health Minister Maria Renee Castro announced that the holiday period will be extended until July 29 due to a high concentration of respiratory illnesses among children.
“The goal is to protect the health of the students, and we ask teachers to implement strategies to avoid affecting the academic calendar for this school year,” said Education Minister Omar Veliz, who indicated that the temperature drops reported in recent days had not been recorded since at least 1986.
“It is not normal to experience 10 degrees Celsius in eastern Bolivia, a region where the climate is usually warm. Nor is it normal to observe temperatures of 20 to 25 degrees below zero in Los Lipez in the Potosi region,” he poined out.
The National Meteorology and Hydrology Service (SENAMHI) indicated that there is a high probability of a cold front entering the eastern regions of the country, where there was already a sharp drop in temperatures last week.
Last week, the Health Ministry recorded 4,812 cases of respiratory infections, representing a 6 percent increase compared to the previous seven days. Currently, at least 87,068 Bolivians are suffering from respiratory infectious diseases.
Thirty-two percent of the 2,317 pneumonia cases are concentrated in the age group of 1 to 9 years old, and 33 percent in the age group of 21 to 59 years old, said Castro, who specified that the situation still falls within the definition of “endemic.”
Autor: teleSUR/ JF
Fuente: EFE
