Argentina posted a daily record of 3,604 confirmed cases of COVID-19 as the country grapples with rising infections that are threatening its early success in stalling the spread of the virus.
The ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, a jewel of Peruvian tourism, will not reopen in July as originally scheduled due to concerns over the coronavirus, local media reported on Sunday.
Peru topped 240,000 total cases of coronavirus on Wednesday, surpassing hard-hit Italy, government data showed, even as the pace of infections has begun to moderate in the Andean nation.
The ancient Inca citadel of Machu Picchu, a jewel of Peruvian tourism, will sharply reduce the number of daily visitors once it reopens from a virus-imposed closure in July, officials said.
As the coronavirus-hit economy of Peru stagnated over the past three months, Lima coffin-maker Genaro Cabrera has seen his sales quadruple. I never imagined working to such an extreme, Cabrera said at his factory in the rundown district of San Juan de Lurigancho.
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.
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.
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.
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.