Coronavirus: Guatemala exceeds 20,000 cases

Guatemala has surpassed 20,000 cases of coronavirus on Thursday, with a thousand people infected during the last 24 hours, and a total death toll of more than 800 since the beginning of the epidemic, announced the Ministry of Health. In the past 24 hours, some 1,061 new cases have been identified and 26 people have died, ministry spokeswoman Julia Barrera said. The total number of cases reaches 20,072 in this country of 17 million inhabitants where 843 deaths have been recorded.

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This new record comes despite several measures taken by Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei, a doctor by training, to curb the epidemic: border closures, ban on public transport and curfew in effect every night.