World’s Deadliest Hot Spots Can be Found Across Latin America
Nineteen Latin American countries accounted for 45% of deaths globally in the past five days.
(Bloomberg) -- Latin America now accounts for 7 of the world’s 10 deadliest Covid-19 hot spots and, in many countries, the data suggests the situation will only get worse.
Chile reported 80 deaths per 1 million people in the past seven days, and Peru added 154 fatalities per million to its tally, higher than anywhere else in the world. While both figures may include counts from past periods -- Chile changed its methodology and Peru added almost 3,900 mortalities on Thursday after analyzing recent deaths -- the rest of Latin America isn’t far behind. Panama has the third highest rate, followed by Bolivia, Brazil and Mexico.
Nineteen Latin American countries accounted for 45% of deaths globally in the past five days, but only 28% of new cases as nations largely fail to efficiently test, trace and identify new patients. Even so, cases are now rising at a faster pace than deaths, suggesting that fatalities are still on an upward trend. Panama identified more new patients than any other country globally in the past seven days.
Total cases in the region top 4.14 million and deaths stand at 176,652.
“What’s striking is that testing is low and, despite low testing, the number’s are ugly,” said Alberto Ramos, chief Latin America economist at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in New York. “Can you imagine what that would look like with average testing?”
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