South America

Peru passes 100,000 COVID-19 cases, 3,000 dead

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru has become the second Latin American country after Brazil to reach 100,000 coronavirus cases, according to health ministry figures out Wednesday. The number of dead from COVID-19 has also passed 3,000, with only Brazil and Mexico having suffered more. Both cases and deaths have tripled since April 30. The dire statistics come even though Peru has been in lockdown for nine weeks, paralyzing the economy. The vast majority of cases […]

Brazil surpasses 1,000 coronavirus deaths in 24 hours

RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil registered 1,179 coronavirus deaths in the past 24 hours, the health ministry said Tuesday, as the pandemic exacted its worst daily toll yet in the hardest-hit Latin American country. The overall death toll in Brazil now stands at 17,971, the ministry said. This was the first time the daily toll exceeded 1,000. New infections in the past 24 hours totaled 17,408, bringing the total to 271,628, the third-highest […]

Brazil jumps to third in COVID-19 cases worldwide

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil has the third-highest number of novel coronavirus cases in the world, according to official figures released Monday, a troubling surge for a country struggling to respond to the pandemic. With 254,220 confirmed cases, Brazil has now surpassed Britain, Spain and Italy in the past 72 hours on the list of total infections, and is behind only the United States (1.5 million) and Russia (290,000). Brazil has registered 16,792 COVID-19 […]

Brazil’s coronavirus death toll tops 15,000: official figures

  SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s COVID-19 death toll passed 15,000 on Saturday, official data showed, while its number of infections topped 230,000, making it the country with the fourth-highest number of cases in the world. With 15,633 deaths and 233,142 confirmed cases, Brazil — whose president Jair Bolsonaro has dismissed the disease as a “little flu” — is at the epicenter of infections in Latin America. Experts say under-testing means the real figures […]

Latin America and Caribbean record 500,000 virus cases

  Latin America and the Caribbean have recorded more than half a million coronavirus infections, according to an AFP tally based on official reports. Almost half have been recorded in Brazil — the country worst-hit by the pandemic in the region — which also has more than 15,000 deaths. The tallies, using data collected by AFP from national authorities and information from the World Health Organization (WHO), probably reflect only a fraction of the actual […]

Coronavirus infects 38 indigenous groups in Brazil

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — The coronavirus pandemic has hit 38 indigenous groups in Brazil, raising fears for populations that have a history of being decimated by outside diseases, the Brazilian Indigenous Peoples’ Association (APIB) said Friday. “The virus is reaching indigenous territories across Brazil with frightening speed,” the association said in a statement. An APIB survey found 446 cases of the new coronavirus and 92 deaths among the affected groups, mainly in the Brazilian […]

‘Total’ lockdown for Chile capital after virus spike

by Paulina ABRAMOVICH Agence France Presse SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Chile ordered a mandatory total quarantine for the capital Santiago’s seven million people Wednesday after authorities reported a 60 percent spike in coronavirus infections in 24 hours, dealing a stunning blow to hopes the economy would soon reopen. “The most severe measure I must announce is a total quarantine in Greater Santiago,” the location of 80 percent of the country’s 34,000-plus confirmed cases, Health Minister […]

Brazil husband-wife doctors fight virus at work, home

by Florence GOISNARD Agence France Presse SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Neither of the Sztajnboks is getting much sleep these days. Dr. Jacques Sztajnbok, head of intensive care at one of the main coronavirus hospitals in Sao Paulo, Brazil, says the stress of being on the front line of the pandemic often wakes him up in the middle of the night. His wife, Dr. Fabiane Sztajnbok, an infectious disease specialist in the hospital’s emergency room, […]

Peru’s opposition leader Fujimori released from prison

LIMA, Peru (AFP) — Peru’s opposition leader Keiko Fujimori was released on Monday from a 15-month pre-trial detention on corruption charges after just three months, an AFP reporter witnessed. Fujimori, who left the woman’s prison in the capital Lima on bail wearing a face mask and white gloves, had earlier announced on Twitter that she would head straight from the facility to take a coronavirus test before going home. The 44-year-old’s release came four days […]

Brazilian President’s ‘So what?’ as 5,000 die sparks fury in Brazil

  RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rarely have two words ignited such a firestorm of controversy. “So what?” said Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro on Tuesday when a journalist asked him about the fact that more than 5,000 Brazilians had died of the coronavirus. The far-right leader’s off-the-cuff comment has been sparking anger ever since, with governors, politicians, healthcare professionals and media figures all weighing in to express their outrage at his lack of empathy. […]

Brazil passes 5,000 deaths from COVID-19: official

BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil, the South American country worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, has registered more than 5,000 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry announced Tuesday, pushing the toll above that of China. A record 474 deaths were recorded in the last 24 hours, with the number of infections rising to 71,886, the ministry said. China, where the virus first emerged before spreading across the world, has recorded about 4,600 deaths. The ministry said […]

Back from the COVID dead in Ecuador, after hospital mixup

  QUITO, Ecuador (AFP) — An Ecuadoran woman who was pronounced dead of COVID-19 suddenly woke up in the hospital, to the delight and relief of relatives who had identified someone else’s body as hers and had it cremated. Alba Maruri, 74, was hospitalized in March in Guayaquil, the Ecuadoran city hardest hit by the pandemic, with fever and trouble breathing. She lost consciousness for three weeks and was declared dead on March 27, relatives […]