The number of people infected with the coronavirus in Latin America is increasing rapidly. According to the AFP news agency, more than 300,000 people on the subcontinent have been infected with the virus until yesterday, according to the authorities, and more than 16,000 of them have died as a result.
Brazil is the most severely affected, with 125,000 infections and more than 8,500 deaths. Still, President Jair Bolsonaro continues to see drastic safeguards such as exit restrictions as excessive and economically harmful.
Less tests?
With 2,700 deaths in just 27,600 cases of infection, the virus outbreak in Mexico appears to be particularly fatal – however, this may also be due to the country’s low test capacity.
In terms of population, Ecuador is by far the most affected, with 92 deaths per million people. This means that for every million people there are twice as many deaths as in Peru. So far around 1,500 people have died there.
According to the Pan-American Health Organization, infection rates in Brazil, Ecuador, Peru, Chile and Mexico are still “very high”. Experts estimate that in some countries the peak will be reached in the next few days.
