South America

Chile crosses 10,000 virus deaths as president announces aid package

  SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Chile recorded 10,159 coronavirus deaths on Sunday, as President Sebastian Pinera announced a $1.5 billion aid package to help the middle class, which has been battered by the economic crisis. The death toll is compiled weekly by the Department of Statistics and Health (DEIS) and is considered to be the most accurate for reporting COVID-19 deaths by test results or by symptoms. According to Sunday’s report, there were 7,057 deaths […]

Maduro gives EU ambassador 72 hours to leave Venezuela

CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — Venezuela President Nicolas Maduro on Monday gave the head of the European Union mission in Caracas, Isabel Brilhante Pedrosa, 72 hours to leave the country after the bloc announced sanctions against 11 Venezuelan officials. “Who are they to try to impose themselves with threats?” said Maduro. “We will sort it out in 72 hours… she will be given a plane to leave, but we will arrange our things with the European […]

More than 220 police dead from COVID-19 in Peru, 15,000 infected

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — At least 223 police officers in Peru have died after contracting the coronavirus while enforcing one of South America’s longest lockdowns, the interior ministry announced Tuesday. “We have to date 223 police dead and 15,500 infected,” Interior Minister General Gaston Rodriguez told a virtual press conference. The death toll is 30 percent higher than two weeks ago, when the ministry announced 170 officers had died and just under 10,000 were infected, […]

Brazil virus toll hits 50,000 as Spain reopens borders

by Eugenia LOGIURATTO with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil registered its 50,000th death from the coronavirus outbreak on Sunday, underlining Latin America’s desperate struggle to contain the disease, as Europe’s gradual emergence from lockdown was marked by Spain reopening its borders. Brazil is the second worst-affected country behind the United States, and the spread of COVID-19 is accelerating across Latin America, with Mexico, Peru and Chile also hard-hit […]

With no flights, Argentine sails across Atlantic to see parents

MAR DEL PLATA, Argentina (AFP) — “Mission accomplished!” That joyful declaration came from Juan Manuel Ballestero, an Argentine sailor who, unable to fly home from Portugal due to the pandemic, crossed the ocean alone in his modest sailboat to see his aging parents. “I did it! I did it! I did it!” Ballestero exclaimed at dockside last week when he reached his hometown of Mar del Plata. The 47-year-old had completed an exhausting 85-day odyssey […]

WHO warns of virus danger as Brazil cases hit one million

by Joshua Howat Berger, with Robin Millard in Geneva Agence France Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — The World Health Organization warned Friday of a “new and dangerous phase” of the coronavirus pandemic, as infections continued to surge in the Americas, with Brazil registering more than one million cases. Colombia and Mexico also passed bleak milestones, as their death tolls topped 2,000 and 20,000, respectively, showing how the virus continues ravaging the Americas and […]

Honduran president hospitalized with COVID-19: government

TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) — Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez was admitted to hospital in the capital Tegucigalpa after announcing he had contracted the coronavirus, the government said Wednesday. Doctors who examined the president said laboratory tests showed he was suffering from pneumonia, government spokesman Francis Contreras told reporters at the capital’s Military Hospital. He added that Hernandez “has some infiltrates in his lungs but his general state of health is good.” The 51-year-old president announced […]

Brazil reports highest daily jump in virus cases

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil on Tuesday recorded its highest daily jump in new coronavirus cases since the start of the pandemic, with nearly 35,000 registered in 24 hours, the health ministry said. The country, which has the second-highest number of coronavirus cases and deaths in the world, after the United States, reported 34,918 new cases and 1,282 new deaths in the past 24 hours. That brought Brazil’s total caseload to more than […]

Peru frees 1,500 inmates out of fear of COVID-19

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru has freed 1,500 inmates over the past two months to ease overcrowding in prisons that have seen riots and deaths from the coronavirus. The announcement of the freeing of people serving time for minor offenses was made in a weekend statement by Justice Minister Fernando Castaneda. On April 14, the government pledged to free 3,000 prisoners to ease overcrowding. Peru has the second-most coronavirus cases in Latin America after Brazil, […]

Brazil virus deaths top 40,000, 1.5m cases in Latin America

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil has surpassed 40,000 deaths from the novel coronavirus and 800,000 cases, according to the latest figures from the health ministry on Thursday. The news came as the number of Latin American cases of the virus broke through the 1.5 million barrier, according to a count by AFP based on official figures in the region. Latin America has also reported more than 73,600 deaths. Brazil recorded 1,239 deaths […]

Peru surpasses 200,000 coronavirus infections: health ministry

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru emerged as a global COVID-19 hotspot on Tuesday as the health ministry registered more than 200,000 cases, ranking the South American country as the eighth-highest in the world by number of infections. The death toll rose to 5,738 and the total number of infections climbed to 203,736, an increase of more than 4,000 cases from the previous day. The ministry said 167 people had died from COVID-19 in the past […]

Brazil virus toll surges to third-highest in world

  by Joshua Howat Berger, with AFP bureaus Agence France Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s death toll from the new coronavirus surpassed Italy’s to become the third-highest in the world Thursday, as the UN’s secretary-general called for a “people’s vaccine” to stem the pandemic. The bleak figures from Brazil underlined the grim toll the virus is taking in Latin America, the latest epicenter in the pandemic, even as Europe seeks to reemerge […]