Mexico and parts of Brazil reopen after closure despite growing cases of coronavirus

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Latin America is the epicenter of covid-19 0:38

(CNN) - Some Latin American countries are partially reopening this week, despite thousands of deaths and coronavirus infections still being reported.

In Brazil, non-essential businesses can reopen from Tuesday in the great coastal city of Rio de Janeiro.

Churches, car shops, and furniture and decor stores are allowed to open, while people will be given permission to exercise on the city's famous waterfront and swim in the ocean. The easing of the restrictions marks the beginning of six reopening phases planned by officials.

READ: Latin America, the new epicenter of covid-19, could be the worst so far

Phase one is beginning as the state of Rio de Janeiro registered more than 54,000 cases of the virus and 5,462 deaths. Last week, the death toll exceeded that reported across China during the epidemic.

Brazil is the second country with the highest number of cases of covid-19 worldwide, having registered at least 526,447 infections of the disease. Cases across the country increased fivefold in May, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

• MIRA: What are the restrictions in Latin America for the coronavirus? So they are in each country

Despite this, the mayor of Rio de Janeiro said he expected his city to "return to normal" in early August.

"If all the parameters are followed, wearing masks and avoiding crowds, we will return to normal life, to the new normality, in August," said Marcelo Crivella on Monday.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly ignored the advice of the country's medical authorities when participating in demonstrations and shaking hands with supporters.

It also ruled out the coronavirus threat in March, calling it a "little flu."

READ: What Bolsonaro said as the cases of coronavirus in Brazil increased

Increase in deaths in Mexico

Mexico reopened several sectors of its economy on Monday, including the mining, construction and tourism industries.

On the same day, the country topped 10,000 virus-related deaths, making it the seventh nation to pass this figure.

LEE: Mexico exceeds 10,000 deaths from coronavirus amid the return to the "new normal"

Recently reported cases and deaths in Mexico continue to increase. The country has at least 93,435 registered cases of the disease. However, the authorities have promoted the relief of the confinement with a plan called “the new normal”.

To mark the change, Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador began a tour Monday in the state of Quintana Roo, where Cancun is located.

Obrador, who had not traveled since late March, said Mexico's economy had to reopen "for the good of the people." He added that the relaxation of the confinement should be handled with caution and care.

Mexico is the second country with the highest number of deaths in Latin America.

Another country that reopened in the region is Ecuador, where some international and national flights resumed from June 1.

A new epicenter

Other Latin American countries continue to apply strict closure measures.

Peru's President Martín Vizcarra has extended the country's national emergency until the end of June. Peru closed its borders in mid-March, but has registered at least 170,039 cases of coronavirus.

READ: The Peruvian paradox: why is the number of covid-19 infections in Peru so high?

Chile, which is also under strict restrictions, has also been seriously affected by the virus with at least 105,158 cases.

And in El Salvador, the Government has sent people who violate confinement to "quarantine centers," a measure declared unconstitutional by the country's Supreme Court.

In late May, the Pan American Health Organization declared Latin America the new global epicenter of coronavirus.

And on Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that Central and South America had become "intense transmission zones" for the virus.

"Five of the 10 countries in the world that reported the highest number of new cases in the last 24 hours are in the Americas: Brazil, the United States, Peru, Chile and Mexico," said Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the Program of WHO Health Emergencies. .

Ryan said the world had previously focused on South Asia and Africa as possible critical points for covid-19.

Now "to a certain extent, the situation in those two environments is still difficult, but ... stable," he said. "Clearly, the situation in many South American countries is far from stable. There has been a rapid increase in cases, and those systems are under increasing pressure, "he added.

"It would certainly characterize that Central and South America, in particular, have largely become the intense zones of virus transmission as we speak," he explained. "I don't think we have reached the peak of that transmission, and at this point I cannot predict when we will."

CNN's Chandler Thornton, Taylor Barnes, Claudia Rebaza and Amanda Watts contributed to this report.

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