
Emergency workers were searching for seven people still missing Monday as El Salvador and its Central American neighbors picked through the destruction after the first-named Pacific storm of the year left at least 18 people dead.

Production in Peru’s mining sector will fall by at least 15% this year, representing a loss in revenues of up to US$ 5 billion, due to disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, a top mining executive said on Wednesday.

More than two months after the coronavirus pandemic triggered worldwide lockdowns, much of the world is gradually reopening. But Latin America remains highly isolated by travel restrictions across the region.

The Americas will bear the brunt of an estimated 305 million job losses that the coronavirus pandemic will cause worldwide between April and June, the International Labour Organization (ILO) said on Wednesday.

The health system in Peru is on the brink of collapse, with public hospitals facing drastic equipment shortages amid a rising number of coronavirus cases. A University of Washington study has projected that Covid-19 deaths in Peru will reach nearly 20,000 by August, indicating that demand is likely to outstrip the supply of beds in intensive care units.

LATAM Airlines Group, the continent's largest carrier, filed for U.S. bankruptcy protection, Chapter 11, on Tuesday, becoming the world's largest carrier so far to seek an emergency reorganization due to the coronavirus pandemic. The filing includes Latam Peru, Chile, Ecuador, and Colombia, but leaves out Latam Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay.

Guayaquil, Ecuador’s largest coastal city has been ravaged by coronavirus with bodies buried in mass graves or kept in newly-filled shipping containers to help relatives identify their loved ones among the decomposing corpses.

International health authorities expressed concern on Tuesday over signs the spread of the new coronavirus is still accelerating in Brazil, Peru, and Chile. The Pan American Health Organization, which serves as the regional office for the World Health Organization, has been monitoring the pandemic in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Mexico's auto industry reopening picked up the pace on Tuesday, with Fiat, Chrysler, and BMW AG joining peers in gradually dusting off operations even as the wait for approvals slowed the return of Ford Motor Co and other companies.

Demonstrators defied coronavirus restrictions to march in cities across Ecuador on Monday in protest against President Lenin Moreno's drastic economic measures to tackle the crisis.