Argentina's Health Ministry Sunday reported 43,487 new cases of COVID-19 in the last seven days, a 27.94% increase over the previous report, in addition to 49 deaths due to the pandemic in the same period. The number of weekly cases has grown by more than 284% in one month.
Peru's Health Ministry officials reported this week the finding of a new lineage of the SARS.CoV-2 Omicron variant called BA.1.22.
A 39-year-old patient in the Brazilian city of São Paulo has been determined to arguably be the first in the region with the Omicron XE variant of coronavirus.
While China is back to harsh lockdowns due to an increase in COVID-19 cases and world leaders keep reminding people of the importance of getting vaccinated, western powers such as the United Kingdon and The Netherlands are lifting all restrictions in the coming days.
Tourists keep pouring into the Wonderful City (Cidade Maravilhosa) where not even Omicron is to kill the joy of its people, even if the streets will be less colorful for the second year in a row.
The Government of Uruguay has decided to scrap the Value Added Tax (VAT) from hotel bills paid by local nationals between March 1 and April 17 in a move to boost domestic tourism. The measure, which was already in force for foreign travelers, seeks to help the leisure industry, heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chile's Health Minister Enrique Paris Monday said contagion of COVID-19 had already rached its peak Feb. 11 when 38,446 new cases were recorded, but it has been dropping ever since.
Uruguay’s hotels and restaurants will seek compensation from the Government for their losses during a summer season which was between “mediocre” and “dire,” as tourism was nowhere near pre-pandemic levels, it was announced.
Brazil's Fiocruz Institute Monday announced the first two cases of the BA.2 sublineage of the SARS-Cov-2 Omicron variant had been detected in the country: one in the State of Rio de Janeiro and the other in the State of Santa Catarina.
The World Health Organization has released a report this week saying a new sublineage of the SARS-Cov-2 Omicron variant has already been detected in 57 countries. According to some researchers, the new version is more contagious than the original Omicron.