With around 18 million people who have contracted the virus worldwide, Latin America and the Caribbean contain about 30 per cent of cases, or more than five million confirmed cases.

The pandemic continues spreading across the region, as health professionals fight in hospitals and authorities try to strike a balance between isolation measures and a gradual reopening of the economy, hit hard by the pandemic. But experts attribute the increase in infections to the gradual easing of restrictions.

SHOTLIST:

1. Various of the streets of Buenos Aires
2. Various of the streets of Quito
3. Various of street vendor controls in Quito
4. Various of testing in Lima
5. Various disinfection in streets of Santiago
6. Various disinfection of people in Buenos Aires
7. Various of sanitary controls in Brazil
8. Various of hospitals in Brazil
8. Various of health personnel in Buenos Aires

STORYLINE:

With around 18 million people who have contracted the virus worldwide, the region contains about 30% of cases. However, the United States alone, with a total of 4.7 million cases, almost equals all of Latin America.

The pandemic spreads across this territory, as health professionals fight in hospitals and the authorities try to strike a balance between isolation measures and a gradual reopening of the economy, hit hard by the pandemic. But experts attribute the increase in infections to the gradual easing of restrictions.

The scenario looks discouraging in the region, with a population that has faced quarantines that have already exceeded four months in countries such as Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador and Panama, among others, where also a large part of its inhabitants depend on commerce and informal jobs . .

The virus in this part of the American continent has sickened even the rulers, such as the president of Brazil, Jair Bolsonaro, and the interim president of Bolivia, Jeanine Áñez.

One country that marks a key indicator for the total sum of infections in Latin America is Brazil. The South American giant, the most populous, with around 210 million inhabitants, tops the figures.

It currently reports a cumulative number of 2,750,318 million coronavirus cases and 94,665 deaths - according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health - about half of the 202,000 deaths in the region.

Among the new infections reported Monday is the head of the Presidency's cabinet, Walter Braga, who became the seventh minister in this country to contract the virus.

Mexico occupies the number two position with the highest number of infections and deaths from Covid-19 in Latin America and the third in deaths in the world.

The country, with about 127 million inhabitants, accumulated 443,813 cases on Monday, after another 4,767 people tested positive for the virus. The death toll rose to 48,012, after 266 more deaths in the last 24 hours.

Half of the country 32 states are classified as areas of maximum risk of contagion and the other half are at high risk, according to the epidemiological risk light created by the Mexican authorities to indicate the severity of the virus in each area of ​​the country .

In Peru, daily cases have almost doubled, from 3,300 to 6,300 since bus and plane travel resumed a month ago, according to official figures.