A passenger wearing a face mask is seen at a subway station in Mexico City, Mexico, March 19, 2020. (Photo by Francisco Canedo/Xinhua)
Peru is ranked the second in the region in the number of infections, only behind Brazil.
MEXICO CITY, April 19 (Xinhua) -- Latin America has registered more than 100,000 cases of COVID-19 as the pandemic spreads through the region, with Brazil and Peru together accounting for over half of the caseload.
Brazil reported 38,654 cases and 2,462 deaths as of Sunday after 115 patients died of the virus in the past 24 hours, registering a mortality rate of 6.4 percent, the Health Ministry said.
The worst-hit region in Brazil was Sao Paulo, the richest and most populous state, which has seen 1,015 deaths and 14,267 cases.
Peru reported 1,208 new cases on Sunday, bringing its total caseload to 15,628, with 400 fatalities. The country is ranked the second in the region in the number of infections, only behind Brazil, Peru's Ministry of Health said.
Among the infected people in Peru, 1,349 have been hospitalized, with 167 in intensive care units.
In Chile, the number of confirmed cases reached 10,088, up by 358 from a day earlier, the Ministry of Health said Sunday.
The death toll increased by seven to 133 in the past 24 hours, and all the new deaths were in central parts of the country, including the capital Santiago and its metropolitan areas Valparaiso and Nuble.
Chile is conducting an average of 4,000 tests a day and has 570 respirators available throughout its public and private healthcare system, said Deputy Health Minister Paula Daza, adding that 54 percent of the patients in intensive care units are aged over 60.
Some 4,338 patients have recovered and are now eligible to receive a "discharge card" that exempts them from further social distancing measures, said Daza.
The government recently made it compulsory to wear a face mask in elevators and public spaces which more than 10 people may enter, such as supermarkets.
Since strict stay-at-home measures were taken, residents are permitted to go grocery shopping twice a week, with all other non-essential commercial businesses closed.
Ecuador has registered 9,468 cases and 474 deaths, with 446 new infections and 18 deaths reported in the past 24 hours. An additional 817 deaths are likely to have been caused by the virus but have not been verified, health authorities said.
The Dominican Republic has registered 4,680 infections and 226 deaths caused by the virus.
The Cuban government on Sunday reported 49 new cases and two deaths, bringing the island's total caseload and its death toll to 1,035 and 34, respectively.
Of the 49 new cases, 41 had contact with infected people, while the source of infection for the other eight remains unknown.
Cuban experts expect the pandemic to reach its peak on the island in mid-May.
In Mexico, where 8,261 people have tested positive and 686 people have died, health authorities on Sunday denounced an increase in attacks against medics, which were presumably provoked by fear and ignorance regarding the pandemic.
In an online video, Health Minister Jorge Alcocer and Deputy Health Minister Hugo Lopez-Gatell explained that healthcare workers were not a risk of infection.
"The virus is going around throughout the country and the people who are taking care of the patients are not the source of infection. On the contrary, these health professionals ... are saving lives," Lopez-Gatell said. ■
