Latin America cases rise; Europe reopens

SANTIAGO－Surging fatalities in Latin America helped push the global coronavirus death toll above 400,000 on Sunday, even as Europe emerged from its virus lockdown with infections increasingly under control there.

Brazil had registered 37,312 total coronavirus deaths, while total cases in the country reached 685,427, according to the country's health ministry on Sunday.

Tolls are also rising sharply in Peru and Mexico, while in Chile, total deaths have now reached 2,290.

Peru reported 4,358 new infections in the latest 24-hour period on Saturday, to reach 191,758, surpassing France to become the eighth-highest in terms of cases globally.

Meanwhile the death toll hit 5,301, the ministry of health said.

Peru also has the second largest caseload in Latin America after Brazil.

According to the health ministry, 1,173,003 tests have been carried out since the disease was first detected in the country.

The ministry also reported that 9,500 patients have been hospitalized, and 1,062 of them have been admitted to intensive care units and placed on ventilators.

Mexico remains at the highest level of its contagion alert going into the second week of its phased return to normal, after seven days that saw the death toll from the coronavirus and new infections hit new highs, the health ministry said on Sunday.

On Monday, Mexico began transitioning toward a gradual reopening of the economy and society, which President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador dubbed the "new normal". In effect, however, little changed, with all 31 states and the capital remaining in the highest "red" level of alert as the government grapples to get the pandemic under control.

The health ministry on Sunday reported 3,484 new confirmed cases and 188 more fatalities, taking the total in Mexico to 117,103 cases and 13,699 deaths.

Chilean Health Minister Jaime Manalich said on Sunday that some miscounting pointed out by the World Health Organization in March and April was corrected, pushing the toll up from 1,541 on Saturday.

Economic fallout

The number of coronavirus infections has topped 7 million worldwide since COVID-19 emerged late last year, forcing much of the globe into lockdown and pushing the world economy toward its worst downturn since the Great Depression.

However, fears of a second wave of the deadly disease have given way to grave worries over the economy, encouraging European countries to reopen borders and businesses, and those throughout Asia and Africa to slowly return to normal life.

A total of 402,894 deaths had been recorded worldwide as of Monday, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University－a number that has doubled in the past month and a half.

While almost half of the deaths have been recorded in Europe, the United States remains the hardest-hit nation with more than 110,000 deaths, followed by Britain, whose toll exceeds 40,500.

In Europe, countries are slowly working toward a post-pandemic normal, and trying to revive their tourist sectors in time for the summer.

The European Union said it could reopen borders to travelers from outside the region in early July after some countries within the bloc dropped restrictions on other European visitors.

France marked the anniversary of the 1944 D-Day landings with a fraction of the big crowds seen in previous years, owing to strict social distancing restrictions.

In South Africa, where President Cyril Ramaphosa gave places of worship approval to reopen from June 1, few were returning to services.

"I am praying at home, God hears me just fine when I pray at home with my family," 57-year-old vegetable seller Gloria Msibi said.

"I love church but it is so dangerous to be in a closed space with so many people."

Agencies - Xinhua