Latin American countries are fast filling up the top 10 list of hard-hit countries in the world as Colombia reached a grim milestone in its infection toll on Monday.
Colombia Exceeds 200,000 Cases
The Colombian health ministry announced on Monday that the country now has a total of 204,005 confirmed COVID-19 cases as deaths near 7,000 in the Andean nation.
Colombia remains on a lockdown as part of the government's efforts in preventing further infections among the residents. The country is still far from the record logs of Brazil and other hard-hit Latin American nations but the new milestone speaks volumes about just how the coronavirus is spreading across the region.
The country has also yet to reach its peak cases as the first wave continues to ravage towns. The capital of Bogota and other smaller cities have reported hospitals almost reaching full capacity.
Brazilian Ministers Contract COVID-19
In hard-hit Brazil, Brazilian minister of citizenship Onyx Lorenzoni and Brazilian minister of education Milton Ribeiro announced on Monday that they have tested positive of COVID-19.
Lorenzoni took to Twitter to reveal that he has started getting treatment for the novel coronavirus following a display of symptoms on Friday. Unsurprisingly, Lorenzoni said the drug cocktail he has been taking in was recommended by doctors who have been supporting Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's treatment claims.
Ribeiro, on the other hand, also took to social media to reveal that he has also started receiving treatment and in the meantime will work remotely.
Brazil Deaths Top 80,000
News of the Brazilian ministers' health condition came as the country reached 80,120 in deaths linked to the novel coronavirus.
Brazil remains only second to the United States with the most number of deaths from COVID-19. It is also the second hardest-hit country in the world in terms of confirmed coronavirus cases with 2,121,645 infections.
Mexico Nears 350,000 Cases
In Mexico, confirmed coronavirus toll has reached 349,396 infections and deaths hit 39,485 after 301 new fatalities were reported on Monday and 5,172 additional cases on the said day.
The news came shortly after the Mexican mining company Compania Minera Autlan reported a total of 85 confirmed COVID-19 cases from within the firm.
Mayor of the Teziutlan municipality Carlos Peredo said it is assumed that the infections started from "meetings outside work" as official data revealed that the municipality has logged a total of 160 infections as of Sunday.
Latin America Passes 3.8 Million Infections
On Monday, the Latin American region surpassed 3.8 million COVID-19 infections and over 158,000 deaths from the disease.
Virologist at Berlin's Charite clinic Felix Drexler noted that while curfews have been imposed and governments have implemented stricter measures to hopefully prevent new infections, the measures "are fallible."
Drexler noted that the increasing number of new cases across the region could be in part due to a spur in activity in the informal sector since reopenings were imposed in many parts of the region.
