SANTIAGO (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 07th April, 2021) Members of Chile's upper and lower houses of the parliament approved on Tuesday the postponement of regional elections in the country, initially slated for April, to May due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the parliament has announced.
Chilean President Sebastian Pinera proposed to postpone the elections in late March over a spike in the daily number of COVID-19 cases across the Latin American country.
"A mixed commission [including members of both houses] has approved a reform that postpones elections from April to May 15-16," the parliament said in a statement.
This weekend, Chilean citizens were supposed to elect mayors, governors, as well as members of municipal councils.
Chile has been experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases since late February. Over the past 24 hours, the country has registered 5,164 new infections, bringing the total toll to 1,037,780. Meanwhile, 23,734 patients have died since the outbreak, with 57 fatalities recorded over the past day.
