News of virus

AS I SEE IT

Strolling towards the exit

18-07-2020 09:55 Extinction is staring many communities in the face, yet few find the thought that all they presumably value could be about to die at all disturbing.

by James Neilson

Global pandemic

Brazil tops two million coronavirus cases, with 76,000 dead

17-07-2020 02:01 Even as cases wane somewhat in the biggest and hardest-hit Brazilian cities, the virus is peaking in new locations across the largest country in Latin America.

'Echizen Maru' in Ushuaia

57 sailors onboard fishing ship in Ushuaia test positive for Covid-19

13-07-2020 23:17 Argentine fishing boat docks in Ushuaia after 35 days at sea, after crew begin showing signs of coronavirus. Reports say 57 of the 61 crew-members onboard the 'Echizen Maru' – who all isolated for 14 days before setting sail – have tested positive for coronavirus, puzzling experts.

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.

Global pandemic

Ignoring outrage, Trump makes good on WHO pullout

08-07-2020 00:09 In late May, Trump said that China exerted "total control" over the WHO and accused the UN body of failing to implement reforms.

Coronavirus pandemic

Fernández wishes Bolsonaro a speedy recovery from Covid-19

07-07-2020 23:28 Peronist leader sends his Brazilian counterpart a letter wishing him a speedy recovery, after Bolsonaro confirmed Tuesday he had tested positive for Covid-19.

SPECIAL INVESTIGATION

¿Qué pasa entre Alberto y Cristina?

04-07-2020 07:41 Pressure is growing on President Fernández to found his own ‘Albertismo’ movement, while Cristina Fernández de Kirchner sets the pace for both, with infighting channelled through their officials and allies – a tussle most recently exposed by the move on Vicentín.

DEBT RESTRUCTURING

What’s the hold-up? Four sticking points in Argentina’s debt talks

27-06-2020 08:59 Four issues are keeping the government and its creditors apart ahead of the July 24 deadline for an accord.

PERIODISMO PURO / INTERVIEW

Jeffrey Sachs: ‘This is not a game for BlackRock to get an extra percentage point – that's absurd’

27-06-2020 08:29 US economist and public policy analyst Jeffrey Sachs on Argentina’s debt restructuring talks, the Macri administration’s missteps and the fall-out from the coronavirus pandemic.

by Jorge Fontevecchia

CRISTINA & ALBERTO

Is she winning?

27-06-2020 08:23 The major shock to the president’s credibility, though, was the failed expropriation of agro-giant Vicentín. Not only are a lot more people against the measure, but also the sensation that it’s of Cristina’s making, not Alberto’s.

by Agustino Fontevecchia

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

UN: Argentina could lose 850,000 jobs in 2020 amid virus crisis

27-06-2020 07:59 Child poverty in Argentina could reach 58% by the end of the year, warns United Nations in new report.

by Lorena Rodríguez

BUSINESSES, SHOPS, STORES

Double whammy of virus and recession forces closures in the capital

25-06-2020 00:59 According to a survey by the Federation of Commerce and Industry of Buenos Aires, at least 18 percent of the 110,000 businesses in the capital have shut down since the coronavirus began.

Global pandemic

Stranded surfer says government should repatriate his dogs too

25-06-2020 00:53 33-year-old surfer Michael Graef is stranded in Peru because of the coronavirus lockdown. He says he wants to go home, but not without the dogs which he has adopted on his travels.

Global pandemic

Experts look to solve Andean virus resistance puzzle

23-06-2020 23:02 The inhabitants of the Andean heights of Bolivia and Peru have resisted the new coronavirus better than their compatriots of the low lands, which has called experts' attention.

Global pandemic

Coronavirus decimating indigenous Latin American communities

23-06-2020 09:39 Indigenous people in Latin America have been decimated by the coronavirus pandemic due to weak immune systems and centuries of state neglect.

CONGRESS

Cafiero faces flurry of questions in Congress début

20-06-2020 10:44 Cabinet chief defends move to nationalise Vicentin, says pensions have improved in real terms.

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

Fernández TV

20-06-2020 09:02 Time will tell if the delays with the Vicentin and wealth tax bills are a deliberate strategy by the president to buffer the complaints by the lobbies who have historically clashed with Kirchnerismo.

by Martín Gambarotta

Global pandemic

Chile's Central Bank predicts worst GDP fall in 35 years

17-06-2020 15:32 Central Bank revises GDP projections, predicting a fall of 5.5% to 7.5% in 2020, due to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic.

AS I SEE IT

The great Anglo-Saxon meltdown

13-06-2020 10:30 It is hardly surprising that the prolonged lockdowns are changing people’s behaviour. Perhaps this is why the US, and to a slightly lesser extent, the UK, are now experiencing bouts of collective madness.

by James Neilson

Coronavirus pandemic

Virus deepens economic crisis as poverty soars

13-06-2020 08:58 Number of Argentines receiving food aid since crisis began has gone from 8 million to 11 million, according to officials.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Coronavirus numbers accelerate in Argentina amid lockdown easing

13-06-2020 08:53 Health Ministry officials confirm 1,391 new Covid-19 infections and 20 fatalities. To date, more than 28,000 cases in Argentina since start of pandemic.

THE LAST SEVEN DAYS

June 6 to 13: What we learned this week

13-06-2020 08:38 Key stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

Periodismo puro / Interview

Rifat Atun: 'The coronavirus pandemic has increased inequality'

11-06-2020 17:48 Dr Rifat Atun, professor of Global Health Systems at Harvard, tells Jorge Fontevecchia in an interview that it will "probably take around 10 to 12 months before a vaccine is available globally."

Global pandemic

Sex workers sharing food to survive during virus pandemic

07-06-2020 21:41 With no possibility of making a living during the pandemic, Peruvian sex workers have organised a soup kitchen in order to survive with their children.

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Doctors on the alert over Covid-19 malpractice lawsuits

06-06-2020 09:19 Healthcare professionals protest and express concern over two doctors who face prosecution at a retirement home in a town in Córdoba.

KEY STORIES FROM THE LAST SEVEN DAYS

May 31- June 6: What we learned this week

06-06-2020 09:12 A round-up of frontpage stories from the last week in Argentina.

Guest voice

Anti-police brutality protests in the US: Why now and what to expect?

06-06-2020 08:10 The killing of George Floyd was the trigger that activated growing anger against the disproportionately heavy burden of both the coronavirus pandemic and Donald Trump’s administration.

by Omar Coronel Cuadros

CRISIS IN VENEZUELA

Virus forges rare accord among Venezuela's bitter rivals, Maduro and Guaidó

03-06-2020 16:04 One-page agreement, signed June 1 by Maduro's health minister and National Assembly representative, says both sides will work in coordination to find funds for fighting the coronavirus.

TRAVEL & TOURISM

Latin America's stricken airlines facing long haul to recovery

31-05-2020 08:11 IATA aviation body estimates it will take at least that time for the region's airlines to inch back to their pre-pandemic level for domestic and regional flights. Long-haul services to the United States and Europe will take until 2024 to come back, it predicts.

POLITICS & THE PANDEMIC

Lockdown: complainers will complain

30-05-2020 09:16 The debt drama will escalate if the talks fail to make progress and some bondholders decide to accelerate the situation, which could see them eventually taking the republic to court in the middle of a pandemic that is crippling for the economy.

by Martín Gambarotta

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

BLOOMBERG - OPINION

Why is Uruguay beating Latin America’s coronavirus curse?

29-05-2020 13:10 Stricken neighbours take note – Uruguay has not only contained the outbreak, it has done so without a lockdown, harsh quarantines or heavy-handed policing.

by Mac Margolis

CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Doctors rally for better wages and protection during pandemic

28-05-2020 00:07 Protest at the Obelisk sees dozens of doctors demand better wages and greater availability of personal protective equipment.

Global pandemic

Brazil tops 25,000 virus deaths

27-05-2020 22:54 Health Ministry confirms 1,086 new deaths in the past 24 hours, lifting death toll to above 25,000.

Global pandemic

WHO warns that first wave of Covid-19 pandemic is not over

26-05-2020 11:15 Top World Health Organisation official cautions that world is "right in the middle of the first wave globally," as cases in Brazil and India surge.

Coronavirus pandemic

City government details new restrictions on commerce, transport

26-05-2020 09:40 City government announces new restrictions on commercial activity and shopping, new controls on circulation of people in and out of the capital and closing of 11 train stations.

LITHIUM

Coronavirus halts lithium expansion in Argentina and Chile

23-05-2020 10:10 Projects under development halted and significant investments cancelled, as impact of Covid-19 pandemic begins to hit home.

by Fermin Koop

ARGENTINA CORONAVIRUS

Fears over Covid-19 in villas come to fruition with community leader's death

23-05-2020 09:13 Ramona Medina's death shines a light on the problems facing Argentina’s poorest amid the coronavirus pandemic, which is spreading more rapidly in low-income neighbourhoods.

THE LAST SEVEN DAYS

May 16th - May 23rd: What we learned this week

23-05-2020 08:59 Stories that caught our eye over the last seven days in Argentina.

ECONOMIC INDICATORS

Economic activity fell 11.5% in March as lockdown kicked in

20-05-2020 18:12 INDEC national statistics bureau reveals economy contracted by 11.5% in March, as lockdown kicked in. Experts anticipate that April's data will be even worse.

Global pandemic

'This is war' – Virus charges beyond Latin American hot spots

19-05-2020 16:07 Coronavirus crisis threatens to overwhelm Latin American cities stretching from Chile to the Colombian Amazon, in an alarming sign that the pandemic may be only at the start of its destructive march through the region.

Global pandemic

Antarctica's splendid isolation keeps coronavirus at bay

19-05-2020 15:23 Antarctica remains the only Covid-19-free continent – thanks in the main to strict security and not a little luck.

Coronavirus pandemic

City of Córdoba resumes lockdown after virus cases spike

19-05-2020 15:20 Officials in provincial capital roll back easing of lockdown measures following a sharp spike in coronavirus infections, authorities confirm.

Global pandemic

Brazil jumps to third highest tally of Covid-19 cases worldwide

19-05-2020 14:24 Brazil has also registered 16,792 Covid-19 deaths, the sixth-highest toll in the world. Experts say under-testing means the real figure could be 15 times higher or more.

Global pandemic

The Argentine priest on the Covid-19 front line in New York

18-05-2020 23:20 Reverend Fabian Arias, from Buenos Aires, is a Lutheran pastor at Saint Peter’s Church in Manhattan. He has has performed funeral services 14 times in the last two months.

GLOBAL PANDEMIC

More than 300,000 fatalities from Coronavirus recorded to date

16-05-2020 09:20 Virus lockdowns ease in Europe as global hunt for vaccine heats up.

KEY STORIES

May 9th-16th: What we learned this week

16-05-2020 09:09 Stories that caught our eye in the last seven days.

EDITORIAL

Throwing stones from a glass house?

16-05-2020 08:57 The institutional monstrosity of allowing governments to choose anti-corruption officials entirely in the presidential (or vice-presidential) pocket puts both sides on the same sordid level.

MINISTRY POSITIONS

Culture suffering a vulture

16-05-2020 08:47 Few ministers are more clearly identified than Tristán Bauer with the vice-presidential rather than the presidential wing of the ruling coalition.

by Michael Soltys

WORLD THE PANDEMIC: GLOBAL VIEWS

New Pakistani ambassador waits to get to know his new home

16-05-2020 08:36 Buenos Aires has a new diplomat in town – but he’s stuck in the hotel. Pakistani Ambassador Dr Muhammad Khalid Ejaz arrived just days before Argentina entered its mandatory lockdown and, as he tells the Times, he’s eager to get to work and improve bilateral ties.

by James Grainger