A citizen wearing protective suit shops at a market in Santiago, Chile, April 16, 2020. (Photo by Jorge Villegas/Xinhua)

 Over the past week, Chile has recorded the highest numbers of new daily cases of COVID-19 in the last six months, with more than 4,000 cases registered for the third consecutive day, bringing the total number of cases to 641,923, the Ministry of Health announced on Sunday.

Minister of Health Enrique Paris once again warned of a "complex situation" in the country due to a sustained rise in new cases, especially in the regions of Atacama, Antofagasta, Tarapaca, and Los Lagos.

In the last 24 hours, according to the ministry, 4,181 new cases were reported, one of the highest figures since June, 2020.

Additionally, 59,726 PCR tests were administered and another 59 deaths occurred, bringing the death toll to 17,096.

Currently, 946 people are hospitalized in intensive care units, with 773 on ventilators and 74 in critical condition.

To date, 6,880,924 PCR tests have been performed, making Chile "a leader in Latin America and one of the countries that performs the most PCR tests worldwide," said Paris.