Get all your news in one place.
100’s of premium titles.
One app.
Start reading
The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Kim Chappell

Coronavirus outbreak hits The Americas

Photo: Shutterstock

There is a new epicentre of the coronavirus pandemic - The Americas.

The World Health Organisation has announced the news warning "now is not the time for countries to ease restrictions".

WHO director for the Americas Carissa Etienne, via videoconference, said Latin America had passed Europe and the US in daily infections.

"Our region has become the epicentre of the COVID-19 pandemic," she said.

The Americas have registered more than 2.4 million cases of the new coronavirus and more than 143,000 deaths from the resulting COVID-19 respiratory disease.

WHO officials are most concerned about accelerating outbreaks in Brazil, Peru, Chile, El Salvador, Guatemala and Nicaragua.

On Monday, Brazil's daily death rate became the highest in the world and a University of Washington study warned the country's total death toll could climb five-fold to 125,000 by early August.

Over in Italy, and it has being reported world famous tenor Andrea Bocelli, tested positive to the novel coronavirus in March but has since fully covered.

In America, US President Donald Trump has said there would be "no greater example of reopening" than holding a summit of Group of Seven leaders in his country near the end of June.

The G7 is made up of the US, Italy, Japan, Canada, France, Germany, Britain and the EU.

More than 1.6 million cases of the novel coronavirus have been reported in the US and its territories.

Did you know you can receive this digest twice a day by email. Sign up here.

The news you need to know

Sign up to read this article
Read news from 100’s of titles, curated specifically for you.
Already a member? Sign in here
Related Stories
Top stories on inkl right now
One subscription that gives you access to news from hundreds of sites
Already a member? Sign in here
Our Picks
Fourteen days free
Download the app
One app. One membership.
100+ trusted global sources.