RIO DE JANEIRO, June 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — Brazil’s death toll from the novel coronavirus has surged past 34,000 to become the third-highest in the world, surpassing Italy’s, according to official figures released Thursday.
The South American country reported a new record of 1,473 deaths in 24 hours, bringing its overall toll to 34,021, behind only the United States and Britain.
Brazil has now confirmed 614,941 infections, the health ministry said — the second-largest caseload in the world, behind the US.
The latest figures underlined the grim toll the virus is taking in Latin America, the latest epicenter in the pandemic. Brazil, a country of 210 million people, has been the hardest-hit in the region.
Meanwhile, Peru hit 5,000 coronavirus deaths Thursday, according to the country’s health ministry, as hospitals faced a lack of oxygen for seriously ill patients.
Peru has recorded more than 183,000 cases of COVID-19, making it the second hardest-hit country in Latin America after Brazil.
Officials recorded more than 4,200 new cases and 137 deaths over the last 24 hours, bringing Peru’s total number of fatalities to 5,031, the health ministry said.
The country has the third most deaths in Latin America from the pandemic, after Brazil and Mexico.
With more than 9,000 coronavirus patients receiving hospital treatment, Peru’s health system is on the verge of collapse.
The government declared oxygen a “strategic health resource” on Thursday due to an acute shortage to treat COVID-19 patients.
President Martin Vizcarra said oxygen used for health care “is a priority over its industrial use.”
The coronavirus has killed at least 146 police officers, 61 doctors and paramedics, 20 journalists and eight fire fighters in Peru, according to authorities and unions.
Peru has been under a virus lockdown for 81 days with a nighttime curfew and closed borders.
Some 70 percent of coronavirus cases have been in the capital Lima and the nearby port of Callao, home to a third of the country’s 33 million people.
The US recorded 1,021 new coronavirus deaths in 24 hours, according to the Johns Hopkins University tracker Thursday at 8:30pm (0030 GMT Friday).
This brings the total number of deaths in the country to 108,120, with more than 1.87 million confirmed cases of COVID-19, the Baltimore-based university said.
About 485,000 people have recovered from the virus.
The US is by far the country worst-hit by the pandemic, both in total number of cases and death toll.
