By Muhammed Emin Canik
BUENOS AIRES (AA) – Hundreds of lives were lost to COVID-19 in Brazil and Mexico over the past 24 hours, authorities reported on Monday.
In Brazil, the second worst-hit country after the US, 555 more people died since Sunday, bringing the death toll to 87,004, according to the Health Ministry.
Infections also continue to surge in Latin America’s largest state, with 24,578 over the past day raising the total above 2.4 million, while recoveries are up to over 1.6 million.
Sao Paulo, the trade center of the country with 46 million population, is considered as the most affected region from the outbreak. There are 483,982 cases and 21,606 deaths from the virus.
Meanwhile in Mexico, 306 patients died of virus-related complications over the past 24 hours, taking the death toll to 43,680.
A total of 5,480 more COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the country, raising the overall count to 390,516, including over 251,505 recoveries.
The first coronavirus case in Mexico was recorded on Feb. 28 and the first fatality on March 19.
Since first appearing in China last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the countries hardest hit in the world.
The pandemic has killed nearly 649,000 people worldwide, with more than 16.26 million confirmed cases, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University. Over 9.4 million have recovered from the disease.
