COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina

The COVID-19 pandemic in Argentina is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). As of 6 August 2025, a total of 10,113,670 people were confirmed to have been infected, and 130,782 people were known to have died because of the virus.^[3]

On 3 March 2020, the virus was confirmed to have spread to Argentina.^[4][5][6][7] On 7 March 2020, the Ministry of Health confirmed the country's first documented death, a 64-year-old man who had travelled to Paris, France, who also had other health conditions; the case was only confirmed as positive after the patient's demise.^[8]

On 19 March 2020, a nationwide lockdown was established in Argentina.^[9][10] The lockdown was lifted throughout all the country, excepting the Greater Buenos Aires urban area (where 31.9% of the country's population live),^[11] on 10 May, with Greater Buenos Aires locked down until 17 July, where the lockdown was due to be gradually loosened in several stages to lead to the return to normality;^[12] restrictions were extended several times until 8 November 2020.^[13] During the second wave, another nationwide lockdown took place from 22 to 31 May 2021.^[14]

Responses to the outbreak have included restrictions on commerce and movement, closure of borders, and the closure of schools and educational institutions.^[15] Clusters of infections and deaths have occurred in nursing homes, prisons and other detention centers, and urban areas.^[16][17] The number of tests increased over time, although there were some concerns as there was less testing than in other countries of the region such as Chile and Peru.^[18] Even so, the government's responses to the pandemic were among the best received by the population in the region during the early stages of the pandemic.^[19]