Covid cases soar in LatAm and Europe

RIO DE JANEIRO: The coronavirus pandemic has passed grim milestones as Latin America and the Caribbean on Saturday surpassed two million coronavirus cases, and Europe saw more than 2.5 million infections, according to an AFP tally based on official figures. The virus is accelerating in Latin America, an outbreak hotspot with 2,007,621 confirmed cases. Brazil, the largest country in the region, recorded nearly 50,000 deaths with 1,022 fatalities in the last 24 hours.

A total of 49,976 people have officially died from Covid-19 in Brazil, with a total of 1,067,579 confirmed cases.

Chile nearly doubled its reported coronavirus death toll on Saturday to 7,144 under a new tallying method that includes probable fatalities. The toll increased by 3,069, Rafael Araos of the health ministry said as he explained the new counting methodology of the government.

Although the spread has slowed in Europe, it is still the worst-affected continent - almost half of its 2.5 million cases being registered in Russia, Britain, Spain and Italy, according to an AFP tally on Saturday.

The virus has now killed more than 458,000 people and infected 8.6 million worldwide.

Passengers wearing masks and wheeling suitcases arrived at Madrid’s main airport on Sunday as Spain opened its borders to most European countries and ended a state of emergency imposed to contain the coronavirus. Spain’s borders are now open to all European Union countries except Portugal, as well as Schengen Area members outside the bloc and Britain.

Germany’s coronavirus infection rate rose for the first time in four days after outbreaks in the meat industry and at refugee centres. South Korean authorities reported 48 new cases, half of which were in the capital Seoul. Ten were in the central city of Daejong, suggesting the virus was spreading more widely as measures are relaxed.