Worldwide coronavirus cases surpass eleven million

Global infections from the novel coronavirus have topped eleven million as the rate of new cases surges, particularly in the United States and Latin America, according to a tally on Friday.

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The worldwide death toll from the disease that first emerged in China six months ago surpassed 500,000 on June 28 as fears grow of a full-blown second wave, with the rate of contagion doubling since May 21.

The United States, the hardest hit country, nears 3 million cases alone, as efforts to reopen the world's economic powerhouse were set back by a jump in new infections in big states.

COVID-19

is also rampaging through Latin America, where Brazil has over 1.6 million cases alone.

The official figures nevertheless reflect only a fraction of the true number, as many countries only test serious cases.

Mexico, among the 10 worst-hit countries by COVID-19

Mexico recently implemented a four-color coding system to resume activities after COVID-19 in order to reactivate the economy.

The epidemiological four-step “traffic light” model is designed to resume non-essential activities. The four categories defined for the gradual reopening of activities are based on their social value: high and low in social value, as well as according to the number of people they involve.

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Every week, Mexico's health authorities will inform the current color of the "traffic light" model in each state during the daily news conference to report the situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in the country, which is led by Mexico's coronavirus czar Hugo López-Gatell Ramírez.

Nevertheless, the IMF warned on its latest World Economic Outlook that Mexico’s economy will plummet 10.7% as the global economy faces the worst recession since the Great Depression due to the effects of the pandemic.

The International Monetary Fund is forecasting a nearly double-digit recession for Latin America and the Caribbean in 2020–a contraction of 9.4%–as the region is dragged down by its two largest economies, Mexico and Brazil, which continue to suffer from the coronavirus.

The multilateral lending agency said in its report that in Latin America, “most countries are still struggling to contain infections.”

Despite Mexico’s efforts to mitigate the spread of the disease, including the reconversion of hospitals throughout the country to treat patients infected with COVID-19, the purchase of tonnes of medical supplies from China as well as over 300 ventilators from the U.S., the coronavirus pandemic has infected 231,770 Mexicans to date.

Moreover, on July 4, Mexico became the 5th country with the highest COVID-19 death toll with 30,366 fatalities, the same day, it joined the list of the 10 countries with the highest COVID-19 infection rates, according to the John Hopkins coronavirus tally.

sg