Another deadly disease is ripping through a region that remains vulnerable because of the effect of the coronavirus pandemic.
Dengue, also known as breakbone fever because it causes severe joint pain, has swept through Central America and the Caribbean.
Cases have also been documented in countries such as Paraguay, Ecuador and Colombia, and people are reportedly refusing to go to hospital because of fears they will catch Covid-19, reports Daily StarOnline.
Panama and Costa Rica have also expressed concerns that Dengue is still killing people while the international focus is on tackling coronavirus.
The Pan-American Health Organisation (PAHO) expects 2020 to be marked by high rates of dengue. Spread by mosquitoes, dengue outbreaks typically occur three to five years after the previous epidemic.
And with four strains of dengue in circulation, people may catch it more than once, with second cases more likely to be severe.
In Latin America, a dengue epidemic that started in late 2018 is still being felt. Dengue infections in the Americas surged to an all-time high of 3.1 million in 2019, with over 1,500 deaths in Latin America and the Caribbean, according to the PAHO.
Cases of the disease should begin to decline in the second half of the year, the PAHO said.
"Covid is the star right now, so all of the attention is being put on Covid, but there are still problems with dengue," said Dr Jaime Gomez, who works at a hospital in Floridablanca, in Colombia's Santander province.
Although dengue is not usually fatal and can be treated with painkillers, some sufferers deal with persistent symptoms like fatigue, weight loss, and depression that affect their ability to work.
Severe dengue is treated with intravenous fluids and hose who do not get tested are at risk of dangerous complications.
Treatment cannot be given if patients stay home, worried about contracting the coronavirus, or if overcrowded hospitals have to turn them away.
Around the world, Covid-19 has affected other diseases in different ways.
In Africa border closures have stopped transportation of measles vaccines and other supplies.
