Latin America eyes return to normal amid virus threat

BOGOTA, Colombia

With 9.2 million coronavirus cases, Latin America is struggling to return to normal as it continues to report rising infection rates in Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia and Argentina.

More than 142,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Brazil, while more than 76,000 people have lost their lives to the virus in Mexico.

The region’s predicament comes as the death toll worldwide from the novel coronavirus surpassed one million Monday, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

The grim milestone was reached almost nine months after the first fatality related to the virus was confirmed by Chinese authorities.

More than 33 million cases have been confirmed worldwide with Europe experiencing a resurgence of the virus and the US, with more than 7 million cases, remaining the worst-affected nation in the world.

Brazil

Brazil's death toll from the coronavirus pandemic reached 142,058 since the first case was registered on Feb. 26.

The South American nation, which remains the second country in the world with the most deaths from COVID-19 after the US, recorded 13,155 additional confirmed cases of the coronavirus in the past 24 hours and 317 deaths, the Health Ministry said Monday. It has registered more than 4.7 million cases of the virus.

Despite a decrease in the number of infections and deaths in the last few weeks, some authorities fear that Brazil will be facing a second wave of the pandemic in states such as Amazonas and Rio de Janeiro, where cases have been growing in recent days.

Mexico

Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard said Monday that Mexico will have access to a coronavirus vaccine as early as the first quarter of 2021.

He explained that Mexico has signed a commitment to buy COVID-19 vaccines through COVAX, a global initiative led by the World Health Organization to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for every country in the world.

Mexico's confirmed coronavirus cases rose to 730,317 on Monday, according to health authorities, who reported a death toll of 76,430.