The number of deaths due to the coronavirus epidemic in Latin America and the Caribbean surpassed the threshold of 70,000 on Wednesday evening, more than half of which in Brazil, according to an AFP count based on official figures. Of the nearly 1.5 million people infected in the region, 71,104 died, including 39,680 in Brazil, the third most bereaved country in the world. These official figures are undoubtedly lower than reality, according to the scientific community.
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New records in Peru and Mexico
Sao Paulo, the economic capital of Brazil, partially reopened its shops on Wednesday. In the shopping center, almost all passers-by wore masks, but without respecting social distancing, AFP noted. And the mega-city shopping centers are expected to reopen Thursday, on the eve of the Lovers' Day (Brazilian Valentine's Day). In Rio de Janeiro, the country's second most populous city and main tourist destination, Mayor Marcelo Crivella confirmed the opening of shopping centers on Thursday, with certain restrictions. Several experts judge the opening of stores hasty, the curve of the pandemic continuing to climb in the country.
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Mexico, the second most bereaved Latin American country, crossed the threshold of 15,000 deaths on Wednesday and had its highest number of infections in 24 hours (4,833), for a total of 129,184 cases.
Ditto for Panama, the most affected Central American country, also with a national record (656 new cases, total: 17,884). In Peru, the second country in the region in terms of contamination (more than 200,000), good news came from international trade: its exports of ginger almost tripled in the first quarter, because it is used as a medicine for respiratory diseases related to coronavirus.
2 million contaminations in the United States
Two million people in the United States have been infected with the coronavirus, according to a count on Wednesday by Johns Hopkins University which refers. Covid-19 disease has killed 112,900 people in the country, the most bereaved in the world by the pandemic. The country continues to register around 20,000 new cases of coronavirus every day, and is struggling to descend from this plateau, because one part of the country has taken over from the other.
Miami's beaches, however, reopened on Wednesday after being closed for almost three months. At the entrance to the beach, a group of "ambassadors" from the city, identified by their pink t-shirts, remind visitors that they must wear a mask and keep their distance.
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Renowned for its art deco buildings in pastel colors and its nightlife, Miami Beach is slowly starting to come back to life, after months of forced closure, at the height of its high season (from January to April). But it will take time before the seven million tourists that Miami Beach receives each year return.
More generally, the US economy will experience a 6.5% recession this year, according to new estimates from the Central Bank (Fed) released on Wednesday. It also expects an unemployment rate of 9.3% in 2020 and 6.5% in 2021.