The Santiago Times reports one in three capital residents have reported respiratory illness during the past few weeks due to the chill, which was accompanied by a record amount of frost at the depth of the southern winter.
Frost damage to avocados, oranges and lemons could reach as much as 40 percent, according to the English-language daily.
In neighboring Bolivia, the coldest conditions in half a century killed approximately 6 million fish in rivers of the country’s subtropical region.
Fresh drinking water is being provided to those living along the rivers now polluted with rotting fish.
In Buenos Aires, wind chills in the Argentine capital plunged to near zero as a fresh Antarctic blast arrived from the south.
Satellite Images: Earthbrowser