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Coronavirus: Chile to introduce controversial ‘virus-free’ certificates<\/p><\/div>\n
Chile’s government has said it will go ahead with a controversial plan to issue certificates to people who have recovered from Covid-19.<\/strong><\/p>\n The documents would be given to people to allow them to return to work, Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza said.<\/p>\n The World Health Organization (WHO) has said there is “no evidence” that people who contract coronavirus are immune from being infected again.<\/p>\n It said certificates could inspire false confidence and help it spread.<\/p>\n Chile has reported 189 virus-related deaths and more than 13,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.<\/p>\n “There is currently no evidence that people who have recovered from Covid-19 and have antibodies are protected from a second infection,” the WHO said in a briefing note on Friday.<\/p>\n The body argued that so-called “immunity certificates” could even be harmful, because they could lead people to ignore public health advice and therefore increase the risk of transmitting the disease.<\/p>\n But Ms Daza told reporters on Sunday: “One of the things that we know is that a person who has had the illness has a lower probability of becoming ill again.”<\/p>\n She added that the certificates would not confirm that people had immunity to Covid-19, but rather state that they had recovered from the disease and had completed a period of isolation.<\/p>\n At least 200,000 people have died with the coronavirus across the world, and many governments are now trying to find ways to ease their lockdown restrictions.<\/p>\n