News Americas, NEW YORK, NY, Mon. May 18, 2020: There are now almost 503,000 confirmed cases of coronavirus in Latin America as of Sunday night, a New Americas analysis shows.
Almost half of those cases are in Brazil, which is the epicenter of the virus in the region and ranks now as the nation with the fifth largest number of cases globally.
Brazil added over 7,900 new cases Sunday to take its total confirmed cases to 241,080. The country also has the most deaths from the pandemic, adding another 485 Sunday to move its death toll to 16,118.
The news comes as controversial Brazilian President, Jair Bolsonaro, posed for photographs with children plucked out of a crowd of supporters on Sunday, disregarding public health advice aimed at containing one of the world’s worst coronavirus outbreaks, Reuters reported.
Bolsonaro’s latest flouting of social-distancing guidelines came after he lost two health ministers in a month, both of whom resisted his fight against quarantines. Brazil’s confirmed cases of the virus passed those of Spain and Italy on Saturday, making it the site of the world’s fourth-largest outbreak.
Peru now has the second highest number of cases in Latin America at 92,273, adding 3,732 new cases Sunday to move it up the ranks to the 12th country globally with the most cases. It also added another 125 new deaths Sunday to take the death tally to 2,648.
In the number three spot in the region now is Mexico which has 47,144 confirmed cases as it added another 2,112 new cases Sunday and its death toll moved up by 278 to 5,045.
Nicaragua has the lowest number of reported cases for the region with 25 cases and 8 deaths.
The death toll across the region is now at 28,753.
Here’s where the rest of the region stood as of last night:
Chile – 43,781 confirmed cases and 450 deaths.
Ecuador – 33,182 cases and 2,736 deaths.
Colombia – 15,574 cases and 574 deaths.
Panama – 9,449 cases and 269 deaths.
Argentina – 7,805 cases and 366 deaths.
Bolivia – 3,826 cases and 165 deaths
Honduras – 2,565 cases and 138 deaths.
Guatemala – 1,763 cases and 33 deaths.
El Salvador – 1,338 cases and 27 deaths.
Costa Rica – 863 cases and 10 deaths.
Paraguay – 786 cases and 11 deaths
Uruguay – 734 cases and 20 deaths.
Venezuela – 541 cases and 37 deaths
