Latin America exceeds 2 million coronavirus cases as Brazil approaches 50,000 deaths

Latin America and the Caribbean on Saturday exceeded two million cases of coronaviruses, more than half of them registered in Brazil, a country that approaches 50,000 deaths from the pandemic, according to an AFP balance based on official figures.

The spread of the virus is accelerating in the region, which totals 2,007,621 cumulative cases, with the South American giant and Mexico as the most affected countries — although Peru and Chile also register a large number of cases.

As of Saturday, Brazil had 1,067,579 confirmed cases and 49,976 deaths from COVID-19, and it remains the world’s second-most-affected country behind only the United States.

Mexico has reported more than 170,000 total cases and is the second most affected in the region with 20,349 deaths. Given the spread of the contagions, authorities in Mexico City — where markets, restaurants and other businesses were scheduled to reopen on Monday — extended their closure for another week.

Chile, meanwhile, reported on Saturday that it associates 7,144 deaths to the coronavirus, 75% more than previously reported, after adding some 3,000 probable deaths to their tally. The country also added 236,748 confirmed cases.

And Peru has exceeded 250,000 cases of coronavirus with 7,861 deaths. The country registered 201 deaths in the last 24 hours, the second-highest daily death toll since the health emergency was declared in March.