Coronavirus cases soared in Chile on Tuesday as soldiers were deployed to back up riot police in Santiago following clashes with demonstrators angry about food shortages and job losses.
Latin American stocks and currencies roared higher on Monday, with Brazil shares rising 3.5% as commodity prices surged on hopes of economic recovery as countries eased pandemic-induced lockdowns.
LATAM Airlines Group, the largest airline conglomerate in Latin America, announced it will lay off 1,400 workers from its branches in Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. The news was confirmed by the company on May 15, after Reuters released an internal video where LATAM CEO Roberto Alvo announced the measures to its employees.
Police and protesters clashed in Santiago on Monday amid a city-wide lockdown meant to stem the spread of the coronavirus as local officials warned that food shortages had hit one of the Chilean capital's poorest neighborhoods.
Two of Chile´s top Cabinet ministers said on Sunday they would quarantine after coming in close contact with Chilean lawmakers who tested positive for the coronavirus during negotiations in Congress.
Thousands of fresh graves are being dug in Santiago's main cemetery amid a spike in Chile's COVID-19 cases, authorities said on Thursday. Chile's infection rate soared this week, prompting the government to declare a mandatory lockdown of Santiago's seven million people from Friday.
As the planet battles the seemingly inexorable spread of the coronavirus, Antarctica remains the only Covid-19-free continent - thanks in the main to strict security and not a little luck. The natural isolation of the frozen and desolate expanse has been taken to new extremes since the WHO declared a pandemic on March 11.
Chile ordered a mandatory total quarantine for the capital Santiago's seven million people on Wednesday, after authorities reported a 60% spike in coronavirus infections in 24 hours, dealing a stunning blow to hopes the economy would soon reopen.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) Executive Board met on Wednesday in an informal session to discuss a request from the Chilean authorities for a two-year arrangement under the Flexible Credit Line (FCL) with the IMF in an amount equivalent to SDR 17.443 billion (about US$23.8 billion or 1,000 percent of quota).
Chile is set to face the worst of the novel coronavirus outbreak in the coming weeks, President Sebastian Piñera said on Tuesday, as a sharp spike in cases and the southern hemisphere winter push its healthcare system to the limit.