Latin America and Caribbean top 600,000 Covid-19 deaths

More than 600,000 lives have been lost to Covid-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean since the pandemic began, according to an AFP tally on Tuesday from official sources.

The region, which encompasses 34 countries and territories in South and Central America and the Caribbean plus Mexico, has recorded 601,256 deaths — the second-highest number of virus fatalities after Europe.

Brazil and Mexico account for about half the region’s coronavirus deaths, which hit the grim figure of over 500,000 by the end of December and have steadily increased since.

Europe has recorded 747,887 deaths, while the toll in the United States and Canada was at least 464,204, on AFP’s count.

Many Latin American countries have experienced a deadly second wave of infections since December, after a few months of slower spread.

Brazil is the country with the world’s second-highest national death toll with more than 226,300 fatalities, and Mexico is number three with at least 159,100 deaths.

As a percentage of the population, Peru is hardest hit with 125 deaths per 100,000 people, followed by Mexico and Panama with 123 each per 100,000.

Globally, the pandemic has claimed more than 2.2 million lives since December 2019. The United States has by far the highest toll of more than 446,000.