BUENOS AIRES / ASUNCION / BOGOTÁ (Reuters) – Argentina surpassed 200,000 coVID-19 instances on Sunday and Colombia set a record when dark milestones collapse in Latin America, bringing the world’s most affected region to a total of five million instances.
The region, which exceeded 200,000 deaths on Saturday, has struggled to curb the spread of the new coronavirus, and infections are accelerating in many countries as governments seek to ease blockades and stimulate economic growth.
Latin America, which accounts for about 8% of the world’s population, accounts for approximately 30% of cases and deaths worldwide, and infections still spread and affect regional leaders such as Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil and Jeanine Anez of Bolivia.
Colombia recorded 300,000 cases and 10,000 deaths last week. Argentina, which has controlled temporarily to curb the spread of the virus, has recently experienced an increase in infections. Five Latin American countries are now in the 10 most sensitive cases in the world, according to a Reuters account.
Brazil, the region’s highest affected country and the worst time in the world, has more than 2.73 million instances and more than 94,000 deaths.
The South American giant, which set a record for new instances last week, posted a 2,500 overall decline on Sunday, under the impression that the region is unlikely to cross the five-million mark until Monday.
Mexico recorded more than 9,000 new virus infections on Saturday and is now the country with the third number of deaths in the world.
Peru, which recently exceeded 400,000 cases, has experienced a damaging resurgence of infections after alleviating quarantine restrictions in an effort to revive a collapsed economy. 7,448 instances were registered last May.
In the region, already fragile fitness systems are being pushed or overloaded, while economic expansion is expected to sink to around 9%, increasing poverty and unemployment.
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Reporting through Adam Jourdan in Buenos Aires, Daniela Desantis in Asunción and Julia Symmes Cobb in Bogota; Written through Adam Jourdan; edited through Richard Pullin
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