Overview
- A nationwide mandatory quarantine began at midnight on March 20, 2020 under a presidential decree, requiring residents to justify leaving home or face sanctions.
- Mar del Plata moved early with closures and a plea to tourists to stay away, and its mayor warned that going to the beach constituted a crime under the rules.
- Santa Fe documented deserted streets, police checkpoints, and detentions for violations as the ASPO took hold days after the city’s first confirmed case.
- Health systems were rapidly reconfigured with modular facilities in Mar del Plata, hotel accommodations for mild cases, and reconversions at hospitals such as Iturraspe and Cullen.
- Official totals cited in the retrospectives report 156,530 confirmed cases and 2,935 deaths in Mar del Plata, with more than 130,000 deaths recorded nationwide.