US fast-tracks Brazil travel ban as cases soar

WASHINGTON/BRASILIA, Brazil－The White House on Monday brought forward by two days restrictions on travel to the United States from Brazil as the number of deaths from the coronavirus in the South American nation surpassed the US daily toll.

Brazil on Monday reported 807 deaths in the latest 24-hour period, against 620 in the US. Total deaths in Brazil had reached 23,473, compared with 97,988 in the US. Infections in Brazil had climbed to 374,898, behind the US with 1.637 million.

A White House statement amended the timing of the start of the restrictions to Tuesday, instead of Thursday as in the original announcement on Sunday. But it did not give a reason for bringing them forward.

Meanwhile, services in some houses of worships and in-store shopping reopened, along with some of the country's national parks, despite the increasing number of COVID-19 cases within the US.

Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona and Zion National Park in Utah are two of the attractions that reopened.

California retail with in-store shopping and places of worship that were closed may now open, health authorities announced on Monday.

Under the new rules, businesses and churches, synagogues, and mosques can reopen at 25 percent occupancy capacity, among other restrictions. However, they first must gain approval from county health officials before opening their doors.

In New York, the state and local governments will provide death benefits for the families of those frontline workers who died from COVID-19, Governor Andrew Cuomo said on Monday.

He noted that those covered by the benefits include the families of public healthcare and emergency medical services workers, along with workers in the police and firefighting services, who got infected while working during the pandemic and finally succumbed to the virus.

In Brazil, Interim Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello warned residents of towns in the interior of the country to brace for the pandemic, which has mainly ravaged Brazil's larger coastal cities, such as Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.

The inland cities need to prepare their healthcare networks for a wave of COVID-19 cases, including from smaller surrounding towns, he said.

Airline bankruptcy

In Chile, Latin America's largest airline LATAM filed for bankruptcy in the US on Tuesday, following a drastic slump in business caused by the pandemic.

"Given the impact that the COVID-19-generated crisis has had on the aviation industry, LATAM has been forced to make a series of extremely difficult decisions in the past few months," the airline's chief executive Roberto Alvo said in a video statement.

As of Monday, 73,997 cases had been reported in Chile with 761 deaths. And Latin America and the Caribbean had reported more than 41,000 deaths and over 766,000 infections.

Xinhua - Agencies