More than 1.5 million Covid-19 sufferers have been identified in Latin America, now under the threat of a food crisis, while the markets weakened again on Thursday, anticipating a long road to economic recovery. As the new epicenter of the pandemic, Latin America and the Caribbean deplore more than 73,000 deaths, more than half of them in Brazil. The largest country in Latin America, populated by 212 million inhabitants, has crossed the threshold of 40,000 dead and 800,000 confirmed cases. Despite the strong progression of the epidemic, shopping centers have reopened in Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.
Brazil ranks second in the world in terms of contamination, behind the United States. In Latin America, the pandemic "can take us back 13 years," warned Alicia Barcena, secretary general of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (CEPALC). "We have to see how we can prevent the health crisis from becoming a food crisis," she added.
As families find themselves forced to use all means to survive, millions more children may be forced to work worldwide, the UN warned.