News of contagion

Latin America's cities bustle like Covid is gone – but it’s not

20-09-2020 21:57 In Latin America’s big cities, as in other places around the globe, it almost feels like the virus never happened.

Coronavirus pandemic

Staff at Ezeiza Hospital holds their breath and hope amid Covid-19 surge

08-07-2020 11:42 With Winter approaching and tight restrictions back in place in the Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area, doctors and nurses at Hospital de Ezeiza hope the Covid-19 cure of curve flattens before overflowing becomes an issue.

FEATURE-LENGTH INTERVIEW

Ginés González García: ‘This is not a dictatorship of the infectologists’

30-05-2020 08:34 Three-time health minister, veteran doctor and specialist in public healthcare, Ginés González García is leading the country’s fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. In an interview with Jorge Fontevecchia, he discusses the lockdown, the hunt for a vaccine and what comes next for Argentina.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

Coronavirus pandemic

São Paulo homeless face choice between cold and virus risk

13-05-2020 11:52 Brazil's biggest homeless population has begun succumbing to COVID-19, and activists warn the worst is yet to come as colder weather bears down and shelters risk becoming hotbeds for infection.

Fight against pandemic

Brazilian cities lurch to lockdowns amid virus crisis red flags

13-05-2020 11:49 Faced with overwhelmed hospitals and surging coronavirus deaths, Brazilian state and city governments are lurching forward with mandatory lockdowns against the will of President Jair Bolsonaro, who says job losses are more damaging than COVID-19.

Coronavirus pandemic

Costlier food hits Latin America’s poor and adds to unrest risk

11-05-2020 13:03 A jump in food prices across Latin America is bringing added misery to the poorest families hit by the coronavirus pandemic and increasing the chance of social unrest.

Coronavirus pandemic

'Thousands would die' if we ended lockdown now, says Fernández

07-05-2020 12:46 President rules out an immediate exit from Argentina's coronavirus lockdown, saying to do so would "lead to the death of thousands."

Research during pandemic

Ukraine scientists navigate lockdown to reach Antarctica

04-05-2020 13:45 Yuriy Otruba was preparing for his sixth scientific expedition to Antarctica when the coronavirus pandemic hit, shutting borders, grounding flights and locking down countries he needed to travel through, urging his team to do the ‘impossible’ while not getting infected.

Pandemic update

One in five coronavirus infected asymptomatic, says German study

04-05-2020 13:41 One in five people infected with the novel coronavirus show no symptoms, according to results published Monday of a German study into infections.

Coronavirus pandemic

As cases rise, City officials analyse new dates for 'peak of the curve'

01-05-2020 12:42 City government now forecasts that the "peak of the curve" could occur between the last week of May and the first week of June, after a rise in the number of people infected in the last few days.

by Ezequiel Spillman

Coronavirus pandemic

Brazilians begin to lift quarantine as death toll spikes

30-04-2020 17:46 Brazilians are resuming a measure of normal life just as Covid-19 deaths are spiking to hundreds per day, turning their country into a global hotspot.

Coronavirus pandemic

Brazil passes 5,000 deaths from Covid-19, says Health Ministry

29-04-2020 13:02 Brazil, the South American country worst-hit by the coronavirus pandemic, has registered more than 5,000 deaths from Covid-19. President Jair Bolsonaro said he cannot perform “miracles” to curb the virus spread.

Coronavirus pandemic

Virus spreads fear through Latin America's unruly prisons

29-04-2020 12:50 The spreading spectre of the new coronavirus is shaking Latin America's notoriously overcrowded, unruly prisons, threatening to turn them into infernos.

Coronavirus pandemic

89% of stranded Argentines have been repatriated, says Foreign Ministry

23-04-2020 14:51 Between March 17 and April 16, 168,140 Argentines or Argentine residents returned home from overseas, according to Foreign Ministry.

Coronavirus pandemic

Lack of virus testing stokes fears in world's refugee camps

23-04-2020 12:40 The rapid spread of the coronavirus has raised fears about the world’s refugees and internally displaced people, many of whom live in war-ravaged countries that are ill-equipped to test for the virus or contain a possible outbreak.

Coronavirus pandemic

China pushes back on Trump administration coronavirus theory

17-04-2020 18:13 China is pushing back against President Donald Trump and some of his officials, who've flirted in recent days with an outlier theory that the coronavirus was set loose by a Chinese lab that let it escape.

Coronavirus pandemic

Harvard researchers say social distancing may be needed into 2022

15-04-2020 09:35 People around the world might need to practice some level of social distancing intermittently through 2022 to stop Covid-19 from surging anew and overwhelming hospital systems, a group of Harvard disease researchers said Tuesday.

Interview with ex-Brazil leader

Lula: Bolsonaro might risk being forced from office before 2022

09-04-2020 19:41 Brazil's former president Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said Wednesday that Jair Bolsonaro needs to change his approach to the new coronavirus – or risk being forced from office before the end of his term in December 2022.

Virus update

Coronavirus may spread through normal breathing: US scientists

03-04-2020 17:41 New coronavirus might spread through the air via normal breathing and speaking, a top US scientist said Friday as the government was poised to recommend the use of face masks for everyone.

Virus casualities

Doctor in Chaco becomes Argentina's 38th fatality from coronavirus

03-04-2020 14:37 Late doctor, named as Francisco Marín, is the 8th death from Covid-19 registered in Chaco Province, which has recorded more than 100 confirmed cases to date.

Virus effect on Latin America

Coronavirus hits rich and poor unequally in Latin America

03-04-2020 08:30 From Mexico City to Port-au-Prince to Santiago, the coronavirus is taking root in the world's most unequal region, where many of Latin America's first cases arrived thanks to the well-off travelling abroad.

Coronavirus pandemic

Grandfather of man who ignored quarantine rules dies from coronavirus

01-04-2020 16:52 Shocking case in Moreno as 71-year-old grandfather passes away. Late victim is believed to have been infected by his own grandson – who ignored mandatory quarantine rules after returning from the United States to attend a party.

Virus effect on the elderly

Nursing homes in Europe struggle in wake of coronavirus chaos

31-03-2020 19:01 Governments in Europe's hardest-hit countries have yet to systematically test the residents of nursing homes or those who receive in-home care. No-one knows for sure how many people have become sick and died of coronavirus, especially among the elderly.

Coronavirus pandemic

Facebook joins resistance to Bolsonaro virus claims

31-03-2020 18:56 Major social media companies are taking aim at Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro's dismissal of social distancing, joining others in the country who have lined up against his controversial stance regarding the new coronavirus.

Coronavirus pandemic

Health Ministry confirms first cases of ‘community transmission’ in Argentina

23-03-2020 16:12 Novel coronavirus is spreading via "community transmission" in CABA, its surroundings and "some cities in Chaco, Tierra del Fuego and Córdoba" provinces, says Health Access Secretary Carla Vizzotti.

Coronavirus outbreak

Argentina's press unites in one voice, urging citizens to be responsible

19-03-2020 15:06 Local newspapers all published the same frontpage on Thursday, calling on citizens to act responsibly and "put the brakes" on the virus.

Coronavirus Pandemic

Uruguay closes borders with Argentina in bid to block coronavirus

17-03-2020 20:33 Uruguayan government decrees state of health emergency and the partial closure of borders; number of confirmed cases rises to 50.

Virus in Latin America

Chile, Peru close borders as Latam grounds flights over pandemic

16-03-2020 22:39 Chile and Peru announced a total closure of its borders on Monday while Latin America's largest airline announces it is reducing operations by 70 percent, as region scrambles to deal with coronavirus pandemic.