MEXICO CITY, April 16 (NNN-Xinhua) — Latin American countries reported more COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, bringing the total number of infections to nearly 80,000.
In PERU, a total of 1,172 new cases were reported, bringing the number of infections to 11,475 with 254 deaths, the Health Ministry said.
“We have tested 109,385 people for COVID-19, obtaining 11,475 positive results and 97,910 negative results,” the ministry said in a statement.
Seven legislators are among those who have tested positive, the statement added.
In CHILE, a total of 8,273 cases have been reported with 94 deaths, said the Health Ministry.
In the past 24 hours, 356 new infections have been detected with three deaths, all of which are in the Santiago Metropolitan Region or in the La Araucania Region, the two most affected regions in Chile.
Some 743 healthcare workers out of a total of 360,000 have been infected with the virus and have been quarantined, according to the ministry.
ARGENTINA has reported 128 new cases of COVID-19 across the country within the past 24 hours, with the total infections reaching 2,571, the Ministry of Health said.
“Today, 128 new cases of COVID-19 have been confirmed, bringing the total number of positive tests in the country to 2,571,” the ministry said in a daily bulletin late Wednesday.
To contain the spread of the virus, Argentina’s capital Buenos Aires announced on Monday that it was stepping up measures to curb the COVID-19 outbreak by making face masks mandatory on public transit starting Wednesday.
Besides, all those in a position to deal with the general public are required to wear a face mask, such as bus drivers, newspaper vendors, store clerks and civil servants.
As part of social distancing measures put in place by the government, supermarkets have limited the number of people shopping at one time to 30 and people who fail to wear face masks in public can be fined.
The number of confirmed cases of novel coronavirus (COVID-19) infection in ECUADOR has reached 7,858, including 388 deaths, Interior Minister Maria Paula Romo said.
In the past 24 hours, healthcare workers detected 255 new infections and 19 patients died of the virus, which can cause pneumonia.
The vast majority of those infected, 6,635, have mild symptoms and are self-isolating at home, Romo said during her daily televised press conference on the pandemic.
Some 220 people who tested positive have required hospitalization but are in stable condition, while 135 have been hospitalized in a serious state.
Another 780 people recovered and were discharged from the hospital.
The actual death toll is probably closer to 1,000, said Romo, noting 582 deaths are suspected of being virus-related, but have not been verified by tests.
Statistics show the epidemic may have reached its peak in Ecuador, according to Romo.
