Brazil virus toll hits 50,000 as Spain reopens borders

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil registered its 50,000 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 worstaffected country behind the United States, and the spread of Covid-19 is accelerating across Latin America, with Mexico, Peru and Chile also hard-hit as death tolls soar and healthcare facilities are pushed toward collapse.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, who has been fiercely criticised for comparing the virus to a ‘little flu,’ argues the economic impact of shutdowns is often worse than the virus itself.

But Mexico City has delayed reopening markets, restaurants, malls, hotels and places of worship, with the country now recording over 20,000 Covid-19 deaths. Highlighting the region’s woes, Peru passed 8,000 deaths on Sunday despite preparing to reopen shopping malls on Monday.

In contrast, primary and secondary school children will return to class in France on Monday, and cinemas and theaters will also reopen.

One cinema in Paris opened just after midnight to mark the occasion, with audiences cheering the opening credits.

“We booked immediately. It’s not our usual schedule, but it will create a nice memory after these difficult weeks,” one cinema-goer named Loriane told AFP.

On Sunday, traffic flowed again across the Spain-France border in a watershed moment for the millions of businesses and workers across Europe who have suffered from the economic downturn.

“We wanted to be in Spain for the sun, the beach, tapas, and I’m already wearing my swimsuit under my clothes,” said Frenchwoman Sylvia Faust, who crossed into Spain with her 17year-old daughter.

Covid-19 has now killed more than 465,000 people and infected almost nine million worldwide. Although the spread has slowed in Europe, it remains the worstaffected continent, with more than 2.5 million cases.

Spain has been among Europe’s hardest-hit nations, but on Sunday it lifted a slew of restrictions in a bid to get its tourism industry back up and running. — AFP