Coronavirus: Argentina the fifth country to surpass 1 million cases
- Argentina the smallest nation by far to reach the grim milestone after infections accelerated in recent weeks
- Brazil was the first country in South America to pass the 1 million mark of cases in June
At the edge of Argentina in a city known as “The End of the World”, many thought they might be spared from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic.
Sitting far from the South American nation’s bustling capital, health workers in Ushuaia were initially able to contain a small outbreak among foreigners hoping to catch boats to the Antarctic at the start of the crisis.
But as Argentina passed 1 million virus cases o Monday, it’s smaller cities like Ushuaia that are seeing some of the most notable upticks. Doctors have had to quadruple the number of beds for Covid-19 patients over the last month. At least 60 per cent of those tested recently were coming back positive for the virus.
“We were the example of the country,” said Dr Carlos Guglielmi, director of the Ushuaia Regional Hospital. “Evidently someone arrived with the coronavirus.”
Brazil was the first country in South America to pass the 1 million mark of cases in June. The country’s number of infections has since grown to over 5.2 million, behind only the United States with 8.1 million and India with 7.5 million cases.
Across Latin America, three other nations were expected to reach the 1 million case milestone in the coming weeks – Colombia, Mexico and Peru. The grim mark comes as Latin America continues to register some of the world’s highest daily case counts. And though some nations have seen important declines, overall there has been little relief, with cases dropping in one municipality only to escalate in another.
The trajectory is showing that the pandemic is likely to leave no corner of Latin America unscathed.