Health experts say Latin America now considered ‘the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic’ [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Recent stats show that Latin American nations are now the center of the coronavirus pandemic as cases continue to rise.
• Brazil President Jair Bolsonaro has received heat for downplaying COVID-19 pandemic in the country.
• Experts suggest that countries in the region should not ease up on the measures as cases continue to rise. 

On Tuesday, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) director said Latin America has now outdone the United States and Europe in daily confirmed cases of coronavirus infections, making the territory the center of the outbreak worldwide.

During a presser, Dr. Carissa Etienne said that the death toll in the Americas had reached over 143,000 and infected cases have exceeded 2.4 million in numbers.

The director said PAHO is mainly concerned with Brazil’s grim condition in the crisis since the statistics of new cases shot up last week, and it was recorded the highest in a seven-day period from the time the pandemic started.

Dr. Etienne also noted that Chile and Peru were also having upsurges in the number of cases, urging the nations in the region to continue restrictive measures and respond accordingly.

According to information gathered by Our World in Data (OWID), Chile and Peru have recorded the highest contagion rates per capita over a week’s average compared to the rest of the world.

OWID is an autonomous statistics website with an office at Oxford University.

As of Tuesday, Chile had a total of 77,961 COVID-19 cases and 806 casualties due to the virus. Even its government officials were not spared from the virus as two ministers were diagnosed last Monday with COVID-19.

Data gathered from the Johns Hopkins University shows that Brazil surpassed Russia last weekend by having the most number of positive cases. The country is now second to the United States.

According to Brazil’s health ministry, the country has now 374,898 cases and coronavirus related deaths of up to 23,473.

Ettiene urged the countries in the region to continue implementing proven and working COVID-19 measures, noting that the government should have learned from other nations which efficiently fought the virus. 

The latest numbers from Brazil have led the U.S government to implement a travel ban against Brazil effective 11:59 pm ET on Tuesday. The advisory will restrict the entry of any foreigners and Brazilians who visited the country in the last 14 days.

The governor of Sao Paulo Brazil, Joao Doria, told CNN that the move by the U.S could have an impact on the two nation’s economic and diplomatic relations.

According to the latest data from the Brazilian health ministry, his city of 12 million is the worst-hit in the country, with more than 83,000 infections and 6,220 deaths.

Doria also criticized President Jair Bolsonaro for downplaying COVID-19 precautionary measures, adding that the head of the nation’s response to the outbreak is unacceptable.

Bolsonaro has repeatedly called the virus as just a “little flu” and did not pay enough attention to its risk, and this has led to the resignation of a health minister, while another one was fired.

Source: CNN