The Argentine government has extended the quarantine that has been in place since March 20 until Aug. 30 to slow the spread of COVID-19, Xinhua repots.

"We need to find a solution to the disease, and the only treatment that we have found so far is to limit the movement and the meeting of people as much as possible. Please, let's not expose ourselves," said President Alberto Fernandez during the announcement.

The Metropolitan Area of Buenos Aires along with several other highly populated areas will continue to be under the greatest restrictions, though individual outdoor sports activities, such as cycling, swimming, and tennis, are now permitted.

Fernandez stated that "together with Mexico, we have managed to become the producers of the vaccine for all of Latin America, and provide a solution for our entire continent. The time that is coming is a time with more hope, because we were able to reach agreements with the University of Oxford and the AstraZeneca laboratory" for the production of the vaccine.

Argentina, whose economy could fall by up to 10.5 percent this year according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), registered its first case of COVID-19 on March 3. As of Friday, it had reported 276,072 cases and 5,428 deaths from COVID-19.

News.Az