Latin America crosses the barrier of 250,000 dead from coronavirus

Latin America and the Caribbean, which have the highest number of coronavirus infections in the world, crossed the 250.00 death mark on Thursday, according to an AFP count established from official statistics. The region, home to 620 million people, recorded 6,463. 245 contaminations and 250,969 deaths Thursday.

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Almost six months after the onset of the epidemic in the region, Brazil, Peru and Mexico are the countries most affected. Brazil, a South American giant of 212 million inhabitants, is the second most affected country in the world, behind the United States, with 3.5 million confirmed cases, including 45,323 new infections in the last 24 hours. The country has recorded a total of 112,304 deaths from Covid-19.

Peru, the most bereaved country in Latin America compared to its population of 33 million, has recorded 26,834 deaths from the coronavirus. The health crisis caused the Peruvian Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to collapse by 30.2% during the second quarter and sent the country into recession. Mexico, which has 120 million inhabitants, has recorded more than half a million confirmed contaminations (537,031) and the death toll from Covid-19 stands at 58,481.

The figure for the number of infections only reflects a share of the actual number of cases, with many countries using the tests only for tracing or not having sufficient resources to carry out large screening campaigns. The pandemic and the restrictive measures to try to curb it, with long months of confinement in most Latin American countries, have sharply widened inequalities and reinforced poverty.

The epidemic is expected to push 45 million people back into poverty, bringing the total to 231 million, or 37.3% of the region's population, according to the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (Cepalc ).