Latin America continues to be battered by a surge in daily new coronavirus cases, with Colombia extending its nationwide lockdown.
Colombia Extends National Lockdown
Colombian President Ivan Duque on Tuesday announced that the national lockdown will be extended through August 30, marking another month for residents to be placed under strict movement control mandates.
Duque noted that "obligatory preventative isolation" will continue as the government attempts to curb additional infections in the Andean country. On the other hand, Duque said municipalities with a small number of confirmed cases will be allowed to reopen.
For municipalities and towns with high rates of infection, strict quarantine measures will continue to be implemented. The latest extension is the eighth time Colombia has extended its quarantine guidelines.
As of Tuesday, Colombia has logged a total of 267,385 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 9,074 deaths linked to the fast-spreading disease.
Brazil Logs Over 40,000 New Cases
The Brazilian health ministry announced on Tuesday that there were 40,816 new coronavirus cases in the country, bringing the national infection toll to 2,484,649. With 921 new fatalities, the death toll now stands at 88,539.
The news came after a new study by Brazilian and British researchers found that 75 percent of COVID-19 strains in the world's second hardest-hit country can be linked genetically to three strain groups in Europe.
Study Traces Most Brazilian Strains to Europe
According to the new joint study, most of the strains in Brazil had origins from three clades that originated in Europe in late February and early March.
After genome tests were conducted on 26,732 samples collected from laboratories in Brazil, the researchers said most of the strains are believed to have passed through popular states such as Minas Gerais and Sao Paulo.
The researchers further noted that it appears community transmissions were already present in the country as early as the first week of March. They noted that travel bans implemented after the said period would have had not much of an impact in curbing the spread of COVID-19.
Mexico Breaches 400,000-Mark in Confirmed Cases
The Mexican health ministry on Tuesday reported an additional 7,208 confirmed COVID-19 cases, driving the country to pass the 400,000-mark in confirmed infections. Mexico now has a total of 402,697 cases.
The government has indicated earlier that there may be more unreported cases and fatalities linked to the virus than what has been officially reported.
The news came following Statista's latest survey indicating that the country will be the most vulnerable in a tourism slump due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Mexico Tourism Expected to Crumble
Tourism makes up 15.5 percent of Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP), and a survey by Statista noted that travel restrictions and strict border controls will most likely have a negative impact on the industry.
In Statista's list of most vulnerable tourism-led countries, Mexico leads the pack, followed by Spain and Italy. China is fourth on the list, and Australia finished off the top five.
The sixth to tenth spots were taken by Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Brazil, respectively. Japan, India, and Canada were in the top 15.
