Brazil, Argentina witnesses record number of cases as Latin America exceeds 4 mn mark

South America's Brazil and Argentina reported huge surge of confirmed cases on July 22, Wednesday soaring up the total number of cases in Latin America to 4 million. According to the international media reports, these regions are facing difficulties to curb the spread of the disease. According to a tally by Brazil's health ministry, the country registered 67,860 additional cases of the virus and 1,284 COVID-19 fatalities on Wednesday taking up the total number of cases to 2,227,514 while the death tally stands at 82,771. 

READ: UN Says Latin America And Caribbean Are COVID-19 `hot Spot’

Surge in cases

On the other hand, Argentina recorded  5,782 confirmed cases with the majority of cases from Buenos Aires, the capital city taking the total number of infections in the country to 141,900. Peru also recorded the highest number of coronavirus cases after Brazil with more than 3600 deaths on Wednesday taking the total death tally to about 17,500. The health ministry of Mexico also reported 6,019 new confirmed coronavirus infections and 790 additional fatalities on Wednesday, bringing the total in the country to 362,274 cases and 41,190 deaths.

READ: WHO Warns Latin American Governments About Risk Of Lifting COVID-19 Lockdown

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres reportedly said Latin America and the Caribbean have become “a hot spot” for the COVID-19 pandemic. He added that several countries now have one of the highest per capita infection rates and huge number of cases in the world. He called on governments to do more to reduce poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. According to the reports, unemployment in the region is expected to rise to 13.5% from 8.1% last year, affecting more than 44 million people, compared to over 18 million in 2019. The poverty rate is expected to rise to 37.2% from 30.2%, meaning 230 million people will be affected compared to 185 million last year, it said. Guterres added that greater international support is urgently needed. He added that Latin America and Carribean must need international support which can provide liquidity, financial assistance and debt relief. 

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(Image credit: AP)