Latin America and Caribbean pass eight million virus infections

Latin America and the Caribbean on Thursday passed the milestone of eight million cases of COVID-19, days after logging more than 300,000 deaths from the virus, according to an AFP tally of official records.

The region, which is the worst hit in the world, had 8,035,484 cases as of 2200 GMT on Thursday, out of a global total of 28.02 million people infected with the disease.

The region made up of the United States and Canada has the second largest number of infections worldwide, with 6,504,734 cases. Europe is second to Latin America in the number of deaths, with 220,085 fatalities from the disease.

Brazil is the worst hit country in Latin America, with 4.23 million people infected with COVID-19 and 129,522 dead from the disease.

Peru holds second place in the number of infections with 702,776 cases, as well as 30,236 dead—but Mexico holds second place in the number of fatalities in the region, with 69,095 having succumbed to the virus. It has logged 647,507 infections.

© 2020 AFP