A vendor sells face masks at a market in Santiago, Chile, April 16, 2020. (Photo by Jorge Villegas/Xinhua)

 
No region in Chile has seen a decline in new COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days, the Ministry of Health said Wednesday.

Chilean Minister of Health Enrique Paris told reporters that the northern regions of Antofagasta and Atacama, as well as Valparaiso and O'Higgins, in the central area of the country, confirmed the greatest increase in COVID-19 cases over the last seven days.

"Citizens must maintain self-care measures. As a health authority we call on people to take care of themselves. We must understand that the pandemic has set us a challenge that we must face together ... only then can we recover," the minister urged.

The South American country registered 2,378 new COVID-19 infections and 28 deaths in the past 24 hours.

Its totals climbed to 625,483 confirmed cases and 16,816 deaths, with 591,081 patients having recovered and 17,239 in the active stage.