Daily COVID-19 pandemic roundup: May 7
Miami Desk, May 7 (efe-epa).- Here’s a roundup of stories around the world related to the novel coronavirus pandemic:
US: Florida continues to register increasing numbers of confirmed Covid-19 cases, 38,828 as of Thursday, along with 1,600 deaths, at the same time that 1.1 million Floridians are requesting unemployment benefits, most of them in the southeastern counties of Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach.
US: New York state, the world epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic so far, on Thursday exceeded 25,000 deaths, according to figures compiled by The Johns Hopkins University, although the increase in the number of daily deaths continues to decelerate with 231 people dying in the past 24 hours, down from 300 the day before.
BRAZIL: Brazil registered 610 deaths from Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the death toll so far to 9,146, while the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases surpassed 135,000 on Thursday. Brazilian health authorities expect the peak in daily infections and deaths to come in May or June.
PERU: Agriculture Minister Jorge Montenegro became the first member of Peru’s cabinet to test positive for Covid-19 on Thursday. The 54-year-old official will quarantine himself and follow the recommendations of doctors, said the ministry in a statement.
PERU: On Thursday, Peru approached the 60,000 level for confirmed coronavirus cases and exceeded 1,600 deaths from the pandemic, which the government acknowledged that many people are not abiding by the social distancing and quarantine restrictions imposed 53 days ago. About 3,700 new Covid-19 cases have been detected in Peru each day so far this week.
ECUADOR: Guayaquil Mayor Cynthia Viteri said that about half a million residents of Ecuador’s largest city have been infected with Covid-19 so far. She said that about 33 percent of the city’s residents have been infected, with 15 percent having emerged from their 14-day quarantines with no symptoms, another 15 percent still battling symptoms and 3.3 percent having been infected within the past week.
ECUADOR: Ecuador officially dismantled the Joint Task Force it set up in March in Guayas province – the capital of which is Guayaquil – to deal with the humanitarian crisis resulting from the coronavirus pandemic, transferring its duties and responsibilities to the armed forces. The Defense Ministry said that the move was made due to the drastic decline in the number of Covid-19 deaths in the province over the past two weeks.
NICARAGUA: Immediate burials of people who have died, a ban on wakes, the presence of police and Health Ministry officials during the burials and bodies on the streets of people who have died suddenly are keeping people alert in Nicaragua, where authorities acknowledge only 16 confirmed coronavirus cases and five deaths.
BOLIVIA: Bolivia’s main cities announced Thursday their decision to maintain the strict coronavirus quarantine that has prevailed since late March in the face of the national government’s possible move to ease restrictions in certain zones or regions starting on May 11.
COSTA RICA: The Costa Rican government announced Thursday that it will extend until June 15 the closure of the nation’s borders to foreigners with an eye toward preventing an increase in coronavirus cases. The country’s borders had been scheduled to open on May 15.
CHILE: US President Donald Trump on Thursday offered Chile aid in combatting the coronavirus pandemic, just as he has done for other Latin American nations with which Washington maintains close relations on immigration or regarding policy on Venezuela. Trump and Chilean President Sebastian Piñera spoke by telephone about the two nations’ efforts to confront the pandemic, but the White House did not say what kind of assistance the US would be providing to Santiago.
EFE
