SANTIAGO, March 3 (Xinhua) -- Chile's government on Wednesday again urged the public to protect themselves to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus disease, one year after the South American country detected its first case of the coronavirus.

"The pandemic continues and we must maintain self-care measures," Health Minister Enrique Paris warned at a press conference, urging continued social distancing and hand-washing.

He added that thanks to joint efforts Chile has the vaccines it needs to immunize the entire population.

Chile reported 3,053 new daily cases of COVID-19 infection, raising the total caseload to 835,552, and 20 more single-day deaths, raising the total number of confirmed fatalities from the disease to 20,704.

"We have not returned to normal and will not return to normal by June 30," said Paris, referring to the date by which 80 percent of the population is expected to be vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the government.

Vaccination progress in the South American country makes Chile a regional "leader" in the race to immunize as many people as possible, he said.

"This week we are going to exceed 4 million vaccinated, and we committed to 5 (million) by the end of March," added the official. Enditem

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