LIMA (Reuters) – Peru has surpassed half a million cases of coronavirus and has the death rate in Latin America, according to the knowledge of the Ministry of Fitness on Thursday, as the government struggles to involve a recent outbreak of infections.
There were 507,996 and 25,648 similar deaths, deputy health minister Luis Suarez said at a press conference.
The Andean country has a coronavirus mortality rate in Latin America of 78.6, consisting of 100,000 inhabitants, according to a Reuters count, surpassing its most affected regional neighbors, Chile and Brazil.
President Martín Vizcarra, speaking earlier on Thursday on a public occasion to pay tribute to the 120 doctors who died from COVID-19, blamed the recent increase in infections for the accumulation of social and sporting events and a lax public attitude.
“There has been too much public confidence, ” said Vizcarra.
“Let’s be informed from history, the right mistakes and now we’re united despite differences in some of the decisions being made,” he added.
On Wednesday, Vizcarra banned the family reunion circle, restored a general curfew and extended the lockdowns to five other parts of the country, with figures revealing a 75% increase in youth and adolescent infections.
The first case of coronavirus gave the impression in Peru, the largest copper producer of the moment in the world, on March 6 and a week later, the government imposed a strict quarantine, stopping almost all productive activity. Its economy is expected to contract by 12% this year under the weight of the pandemic, according to central bank projections.
(This story corrects to say the mortality rate, the number of deaths, in the name and in the first paragraph)
Reporting through Cassandra Garrison; Edited through Michael Perry
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