Passengers wearing face masks are seen at the Ministro Pistarini International Airport in Ezeiza, Argentina, March 12, 2020. (TELAM/Handout via Xinhua)
Health authorities began a "house-to-house" operation Saturday to search for close contacts of people diagnosed with the novel coronavirus disease in the capital city of Buenos Aires.
The program, "Strategic Testing Device for Coronavirus in Terrain of Argentina (DETECTAR)," began in the central neighborhood of Balvanera and will continue into the districts of Flores and Palermo, spokesmen for the Buenos Aires city government told Xinhua.
The three neighborhoods have registered some of the highest numbers of cases in the capital.
"The objective is to identify early the close contacts of the 84 people from Balvanera recently confirmed to have COVID-19, to evaluate them, and to mitigate the contagiousness of the virus," the spokesmen said.
As of Saturday morning, Argentina had reported 21,037 cases of the disease, with 10,174 in Buenos Aires.
Buenos Aires authorities said that the operation includes the deployment of a fever emergency unit and a sanitization truck, as well as personnel utilizing specialized hygienic clothing and equipment.
