A two-day political election to pick the drafters of a new constitution for Chile is being postponed till May due to the coronavirus pandemic, President Sebastián Piñera revealed Sunday.
He said the voting to elect 155 Chileans to the constitutional setting up will be held May 15-16 instead of April 10-11 as initially planned. Political elections for mayors, common council and governors likewise were postponed until the exact same days of the assembly vote.
” This has actually been a very difficult choice, yet we have to make it,” Piñera said, mentioning the demand to “safeguard every person’s health and also life” amidst a brand-new rise in coronavirus infections.
Wellness experts had actually recommended putting on hold the intended political election.
Intensive care devices go to 95% capacity, with 7 of every 10 ICU beds occupied by a COVID-19 situation. The Ministry of Health reported Sunday greater than 7,300 new coronavirus cases, the 4th consecutive day surpassing 7,000 situations.
When Chile returned to democracy, nearly 80% of voters in an Oct. 25 plebiscite supported seating an assembly to reword the constitution inherited from the dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet. At the exact same time, the citizens excluded any congress participant from serving in the setting up.
The body will book 17 seats for Indigenous delegates, and also the United Nations states it will certainly be first time a constitution is prepared by an assembly equally split between women and also males.
Chile quake: 6.5 size quake strikes near Tocopilla
An earthquake of magnitude 6.5 has actually struck near the coastline of Northern Chile, the GFZ German Research Center for Geosciences stated.
The quake went to a deepness of 46km, it included.
The epicentre of the quake lay north of the city of Tocopilla, the funding of the province that has the exact same name.
Tocopilla and a nearby municipality, Alton Hospicio, experienced power interruptions as a result of the quake but no damage or injuries have been reported, according to Chile’s National Emergency Office.
The Hydrographic and also Oceanographic Service of the Chilean navy stated the quake had qualities that positioned a tidal wave risk for the coastline.
Previously today, a 6.8-magnitude quake struck in the Pacific off the coast of north Chile, but no injuries or damage were reported at the time.
Chile regularly experiences earthquakes with sizes exceeding 6.0 as it is located along the Pacific container’s “Ring of Fire”.
The last fatal earthquake shook a number of Chilean regions with a magnitude of 8.8 in February 2010, killing as well as causing a tidal wave 526 individuals.