Latin America surpasses 250,000 coronavirus deaths: AFP tally

Aug 21, 2020 10:51 AM

Latin America and the Caribbean surpassed 250,000 deaths from the coronavirus on Thursday, according to an AFP tally based on official national statistics.

(FILES) COVID-19 victim at the Nueva Esperanza cemetery, one of the largest in Latin America, in the southern outskirts of Lima. - Almost six months after it was first detected in Latin America, the coronavirus death toll has reached 250,000 and exacerbated the problems of poverty and inequality, threatening to undo a decade of slow social progress. (Photo by ERNESTO BENAVIDES / AFP)

The region recorded 6,463,245 infections and 250,969 deaths by 2200 GMT.

Brazil is the region's worst-affected country with 3.5 million cases and more than 112,000 deaths. The South American giant is second only to the United States as the world's worst-hit country.

Peru, where figures released Thursday showed a 30 percent fall in GDP in the second quarter, has registered more than 26,000 deaths.

Mexico had recorded 58,481 deaths from nearly 540,000 COVID-19 infections by late Wednesday. Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced Thursday that at least 2,000 Mexican volunteers would take part in final-phase trials of a Russian vaccine against the virus.