
Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador said on Sunday that the novel coronavirus could cost as many as a million jobs in the country as many industries considered not essential remain shut.

South America has become “a new epicenter” of the deadly coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Friday, following a surge in the number of Covid-19 infections.

Peru on Friday extended its state of emergency and a nationwide lockdown to fight the coronavirus pandemic until the end of June, marking one of the longest periods of mandatory isolation in the world.

Every five years, a statue of the Virgin of Socorro is paraded through the streets of Peru’s third-largest city, Trujillo. But this year, the coronavirus lockdown meant the city’s patron saint could not make her rounds as usual.

Bolivia's interim president, Jeanine Anez, on Wednesday fired Health Minister Marcelo Navajas for his alleged role in a kickback scheme involving the purchase of 170 Spanish-made ventilators at inflated prices for COVID-19 patients.

Global coronavirus cases surpassed 5 million on Wednesday, with Latin America overtaking the United States and Europe in the past week to report the largest portion of new daily cases globally.

Peru has become the second Latin American country after Brazil to reach 100,000 coronavirus cases, according to Health Ministry figures out on Wednesday. The number of dead from Covid-19 has also passed 3,000, with only Brazil and Mexico have suffered more. Both cases and deaths have tripled since April 30.

US President Donald Trump said on Tuesday he is considering imposing a halt on all travel coming from Latin America amid worsening coronavirus outbreaks in the region.

OECD countries unanimously decided last Friday to invite Costa Rica to become a member of the Organization. Costa Rican President Carlos Alvarado Quesada and OECD Secretary-General Angel Gurría will sign an Accession Agreement in the coming days.

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.