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SAO PAULO, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro on Sunday joined hundreds of demonstrators outside army headquarters in the capital Brasilia protesting stay-at-home orders issued by state governors. The crowd of around 600 called on the army to intervene in the handling of the coronavirus pandemic and demanded the closure of Congress. Some held up posters declaring “Military intervention with Bolsonaro”. “I am here because I believe in you and you are here […]
by Xavier LETAMENDI Agence France Presse GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AFP) — Darwin Castillo’s father died in Guayaquil during the coronavirus pandemic that has caused the Ecuadoran city’s health system to collapse. But when Castillo went to the overwhelmed morgue to recover him, he opened a body bag to find the person inside wasn’t his father. Two weeks have passed and he still hasn’t found the body. Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest city, is the capital of Guayas […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — Brazil’s Health Minister Luiz Henrique Mandetta said Thursday he’d been sacked by President Jair Bolsonaro, after weeks of clashes between the two over the country’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. Mandetta made the announcement on Twitter following a meeting with Bolsonaro at the presidential palace in the capital Brasilia. Their relationship had deteriorated since the start of the virus crisis. Mandetta promoted isolation as a tool to contain the spread […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The confirmed coronavirus death toll in the United States surpassed 30,000 on Thursday, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. The tracker says 30,990 people have now died in the country from COVID-19 since the start of the global health crisis. The US has the highest death toll in the world, followed by Italy with 21,645 dead although its population is just a fifth of that of the US. […]
by Santiago PIEDRA SILVA à Quito Agence France Presse GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AFP) — Ecuador’s economic capital Guayaquil is reeling from the most aggressive outbreak of COVID-19 in Latin America after the pandemic hit the city “like a bomb,” its mayor said. Cynthia Viteri has emerged from her own bout with the virus to battle the worst crisis the port city of nearly 3 million people has known in modern times. “There is no space […]
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — Rio de Janeiro Governor Wilson Witzel, a leading opponent of Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s calls to relax COVID-19 containment measures, said Tuesday he had tested positive for the new coronavirus. In a video posted to Twitter, Witzel said he had started feeling unwell Friday, with a fever, sore throat and loss of smell, a key symptom of the virus. “Today, the test result came back positive… Now, thank God, […]
GUAYAQUIL, Ecuador (AFP) — Ecuador said police have removed almost 800 bodies in recent weeks from homes in Guayaquil, the epicenter of the country’s coronavirus outbreak after the disease overwhelmed emergency services, hospitals, and funeral parlors. Mortuary workers in the Pacific port city have been unable to cope with a backlog, with residents posting videos on social media showing abandoned bodies in the streets. “The number we have collected with the task force from people’s […]
BRASILIA, Brazil (AFP) — A Yanomami indigenous boy has died after contracting the coronavirus, authorities in Brazil said Friday, raising fears for the Amazon tribe, which is known for its vulnerability to disease. The 15-year-old boy, the first Yanomami to be diagnosed with the virus, was hospitalized a week ago at an intensive care unit in Boa Vista, the capital of the northern state of Roraima, officials said. He died of severe respiratory complications […]
NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Millions of New Yorkers must be tested for the new coronavirus before the state can reopen, Governor Andrew Cuomo said Friday, as he reported a continued slowing of COVID-19. Cuomo said intensive care admissions were at their lowest since the crisis began last month but called for an “unprecedented mobilization” of testing before residents are able to return to work. “Even with our high capacity and high performance on […]
SANTIAGO, Chile (AFP) — Chile will issue certificates to people that have recovered from the coronavirus, which would allow them to move freely, the health minister said. As of Thursday, Chile has seen 1,274 recover from the deadly virus. “As of next week we’ll issue a certificate. These people can be a great help to the community,” said Jaime Manalich. Chile has had almost 6,000 infections and 57 deaths from COVID-19. Manalich expects a “slight […]
CARACAS, Venezuela (AFP) — A plane carrying 90 tons of UN health, water, and sanitation aid arrived in Venezuela on Wednesday to help the cash-strapped country fight the coronavirus pandemic. The shipment includes 28,000 Personal Protective Equipment kits for health workers, oxygen concentrators, pediatric beds, water quality control products, and hygiene kits, the UN said. “This is the first United Nations humanitarian shipment in support of the Venezuela COVID-19 outbreak,” said Peter Grohmann, the UN’s […]
PICTURES BY MAURO PIMENTEL. Agence France-Presse RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (AFP) — There are no good options these days in City of God. Venture out in this densely populated Rio de Janeiro favela, and residents risk exposing themselves to coronavirus. Stay in, and many have nothing to eat. The Brazilian slum rose to fame in 2002, when an acclaimed film of the same name chronicled the violence, crime and stark choices facing young people growing up […]
