Latin America’s deaths surpass North’s
SANTIAGO: The number of deaths from Covid19 in Latin America has exceeded the figure for North America for the first time since the start of the pandemic, a Reuters count showed yesterday.
Latin America had by then at least 144,680 deaths, compared with 143,847 in Canada and the United States.
The first confirmed cases in the Americas came within a day of each other in late February, first in Canada and then the United States and Mexico.
Initially, the United States and Canada suffered a more rapid rise in reported cases.
However, Latin America struggled to contain the spread of the virus once it left the more affluent neighbourhoods where it was first detected. A problematic combination of widespread poverty, informal labour and poor healthcare, particularly in remote areas, contributed to the spread.
Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro and Mexico’s Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador initially dismissed the severity of the virus.
Last night the United States remained the individual country with the most overall deaths — 135,615 — followed by Brazil at 72,883.
Mexico and Peru are among the 10 nations with the highest number of deaths globally, while Chile, Colombia and Ecuador have also all suffered more than 5000 deaths.
The world’s infections surpassed 13 million yesterday, according to a Reuters count.
The tally shows the disease is accelerating fastest in Latin America.
WHO Directorgeneral Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned yesterday countries must adhere to healthcare precautions.
‘‘Let me be blunt. Too many countries are headed in the wrong direction. The virus remains public enemy No 1,’’ he said from Geneva.
‘‘If basics are not followed . . . it is going to get worse and worse and worse.’’ — Reuters