Death toll tops 50,000 in Latin America

Latin America hit a grim milestone on Saturday as coronavirus deaths topped 50,000 and cases neared 1 million, with Brazil accounting for more than half of deaths and infections.

Brazil reported a record 33,274 new cases on Saturday, its health ministry said, the country reporting 498,440 confirmed infections since the outbreak, a level of contagion second only to the United States.

The death toll in Brazil increased to 28,834 on Saturday, the ministry said, and the number surpassed that of France. It now ranks only below the US, Britain and Italy.

Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro remain the hardest-hit states in Brazil in terms of sheer numbers, while per capita rates are higher in the country's impoverished north and northeast, where health facilities are reaching capacity.

Brazilian states are preparing to ease quarantine restrictions despite warnings from public health experts who said the worst was still to come.

Elsewhere in the continent, Colombia took new measures to control the spread of the novel coronavirus in three of its most affected cities on Saturday, including the capital Bogota, as the rest of the country prepares for quarantine rules to start lifting. The country has reported more than 28,200 cases and 890 deaths.

Bogota Mayor Claudia Lopez is planning to shut down one of the city's largest neighborhoods as cases there continue to rise.

Starting from June 1, the working-class Kennedy area－home to nearly 1.5 million people－would be under a strict quarantine, she said on Saturday.

Mexico on Saturday registered 2,885 new cases of coronavirus and 364 more deaths, bringing the total numbers to 87,512 cases and 9,779 fatalities, according to health authorities.

The government was scheduled to start reopening the country from anti-coronavirus measures from June 1.

Agencies Via Xinhua