According to WHO, Latin America and the Caribbean have become the “new epicenter” of the coronavirus pandemic, exceeding 40,000 deaths from Covid-19 on Sunday, according to an AFP.
Brazil is by far the country in the region most punished both by number of deaths and cases, with 22,666 deaths and 363,121 cases, followed by Mexico (7,394 and 68,620) and Peru (3,456 and 119,959).
Despite these figures, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro again challenged the distancing measures on Sunday and rallied in Brasilia to which he appeared wearing a face mask, but then took it off to greet the crowd, shake hands and hug to his followers. At one point he even carried a small boy on his shoulders.
Deaths from the
coronavirus in the region have doubled in just two weeks. On May 10, the 20,000 deceased were exceeded.
The economic crisis caused by the
coronavirus pandemic will leave 11.5 million new unemployed in Latin America this year, which will increase the total number of unemployed to 37.7 million people, ECLAC and ILO estimated on Thursday.
The pandemic has already killed over 344,000 people worldwide and has left nearly 5.4 million infected, with the United States as the most affected country with close to 98,000 deaths and over 1.6 million cases.