Photographer: Sarah Pabst / Bloomberg
Photographer: Sarah Pabst / Bloomberg
Fighting Argentina’s coronavirus is taking a turn for the worse, as the nation that carried out one of Latin America’s most stringent lockdowns is already watching the storms.
The second largest economy in South America reported 303 deaths in the Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, a record that was double that of the previous day’s count. It climbed rapidly in the ranks among the deadliest outbreaks in the past week on a per capita basis. In the past seven days, Argentina reported 22.5 deaths per million people compared to 28.1 in Brazil and 23.4 in the US, the world’s biggest hot spots. Total deaths have now exceeded 5,000 since the pandemic began.
Worse, worries that real estate and death rates could actually be much higher. The number of coronavirus tests that return positive has been around 40% in the past week, similar levels as Mexico where test levels are not considered sufficient. The World Health Organization recommends that countries target 5% or less for 14 days immediately before economies reopen.
The worse outbreak is in line with a government that seems to be doing everything right once the pandemic started raging around the world. Argentina has one of the longest and most stringent national lockdowns in the world – now at 146 days. The government restricted movement so severely that citizens could not even cross provincial borders, even with the air as the car, without control and possible fines.
The economy is expected to contract around 10% this year – the third consecutive year in recession – and the government will soon begin talks with the International Monetary Fund on a new program after hitting an initial debt restructuring trading on $ 65 billion of bonds.
De epicenter of the virus remains the province of Buenos Aires, which had 64% of all cases on Wednesday. The province, Argentina’s largest and most populous, has at one point offered to pay citizens with mild cases to isolate. The capital Buenos Aires has 17% of national cases.
Elsewhere in Latin America:
- Coronavirus Tracker: Global Cases 20.3 million; Died 742,048
- The director of the Brazilian Butantan Institute, Dimas Covas, said the state of Sao Paulo could begin vaccination in January 2021: Folha
- Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria tested positive for the virus
- In just four days, the Brazilian national football league has 40 confirmed cases of Covid-19 among players: O Globo
- Venezuela reported 1,138 cases on Tuesday, another daily record
- China detects virus on more imports of shrimp from Ecuador
- The Prime Minister of Jamaica called a general election for September 3 and said that political parties are working on protocols to keep the vote during the pandemic
| Country | Fallen | Pass away |
|---|---|---|
| Brazil | 3,109,630 | 103,026 |
| Mexico | 492,522 | 53,929 |
| Peru | 489,680 | 21,501 |
| Colombia | 410,453 | 13,475 th most common |
| Chile | 376,616 | 10,178 |
| Argentina | 260,911 | 5,088 |
| Ecuador | 95,563 | 5,951 |
| Bolivia | 93,328 | 3,761 |
| Dominican Republic | 81,094 | 1,328 |
| Panama | 76,464 | 1,664 |
| Guatemala | 57,966 | 2,222 |
| Honduras | 48,403 | 1,550 th most common |
| Venezuela | 27,938 | 238 |
– With the help of Murilo Fagundes
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