Argentine President highlights official aid plans

Buenos Aires, Dec 20 (IANS) Argentine President Alberto Fernandez has highlighted multiple official aid plans set to mitigate the social effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.Without projects such as Emergency Family Income and Assistance for Work and Production, poverty rate would be much higher, Fernandez said in a statement to the media on SaturdayAs the pandemic prevails, Fernandez urged citizens to celebrate holidays at the end of the year and summer vacations with extreme caution, reports Xinhua news agency."People relax a lot but you have to be careful, because the problem is not over," the President said.The Social, Preventive, and Obligatory Distancing measures ordered by the Argentine government to control the pandemic will last until January 31. Argentina on Saturday reported 5,795 new cases, taking its national case tally to 1,537,169, said the Ministry of Health.The Ministry also reported 91 more deaths from the disease, bringing the nationwide death toll to 41,763.The province of Buenos Aires has the country's most cases of 650,861, followed by the province of Santa Fe with 166,011 infections.
--IANS ksk/