Youth 'biggest problem' in COVID-19 transmission, says Argentine president

BUENOS AIRES - Argentina's President Alberto Fernandez on Monday called for greater social responsibility, especially among the country's youth, in combating a rise in cases of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

In a statement, the president said he wanted to warn Argentines about the severity of the outbreak, especially "the youngest, because all the data indicates that is where we have the biggest problem".

Young people "have to understand that they are vectors of transmission", despite the fact that they "are not the ones who suffer the most from the disease when it comes to getting sick", said Fernandez.

"We must maintain all the necessary ... regulations so that the disease does not spread in the way that, unfortunately, we are seeing it spread," he added.

The South American country registered its first case of COVID-19 on March 3 and confirmed 1,640,718 cases and 43,482 deaths from the disease as of Sunday night.