Several Latin American countries are becoming hotspots of the novel coronavirus and Colombia has just put up a fight against the pandemic by extending its national lockdown.
Colombia Extends National Lockdown
Colombian President Ivan Duque announced on Tuesday that the national lockdown will be extended for two more weeks until August 1 as part of the government's efforts in preventing further COVID-19 cases in the country.
In a televised broadcast, Duque explained that the extension was made after analysis from the government and health experts that showed "the rate of cases has accelerated and grown."
Duque further noted that at this point, the government continues to lean on "mandatory preventive isolation" as the focal driving force of the country's anti-coronavirus efforts.
Compared to the situation in Brazil and other Latin American countries, Colombia's outbreaks are not as widespread with around 490 municipalities not reporting any COVID-19 infections.
On the other hand, it appears that the government is implementing preventive measures due to lessons learned from the experiences of hard-hit countries such as the United States, Italy, and Brazil.
Caribbean Coast Cases Surge
The Colombian government's decision came roughly two days after it was reported that new infections and deaths from COVID-19 have been on the rise along the Caribbean coast of the region.
Aside from surging cases in the said area, Bogota's intensive care units are now around 80 percent full, raising concerns about the health system's vulnerability should healthcare institutions be overwhelmed with new cases.
Colombia has purchased new ventilators to help ease hospitals as more infected patients move to ICUs. However, Bogota lacks in trained doctors and specialists who can handle such virus-linked cases.
Chile Passes 300,000 in Confirmed COVID-19 Cases
Over in Chile, there has been a significant decline in new coronavirus infections. However, the country on Tuesday passed the 300,000-mark in confirmed cases.
With 2,462 new COVID-19 cases reported on Tuesday, Chile's national infection toll has reached 301,019. There were also 50 new deaths from the virus, bringing the national death toll to 6,434.
According to the Chilean Health Ministry, around 26,340 cases are still active but over 268,000 patients have recovered. It is unclear how many of the active cases are in ICU monitoring.
Mexico Real Numbers may be Higher
The Mexican Health Ministry on Tuesday logged 6,258 new confirmed COVID-19 cases, bringing the national infection toll to 268,008.
The government announced that while it releases daily tolls of new cases and deaths, the real numbers of Mexicans infected with the novel coronavirus may be higher.
As with other countries, Mexico has been burdened with difficulties in tracing asymptomatic cases and deaths that have yet to be officially confirmed as COVID-19 fatalities.
With 895 new fatalities on Tuesday, the country's death toll has reached 32,014.
Latin America and Caribbean Cases Pass 3 Million
As of Tuesday evening, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the Latin American and Caribbean region has reached 3,010,000.
It is worth noting that of the more than 3 million infected patients, Brazil accounts for over half of the infections. Health experts are expecting the numbers to rise further until the hardest-hit Latin American country implements stricter anti-coronavirus measures.
