Latin America's COVID death toll surpasses 1.5 million

Latin America's death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 1.5 million Friday, according to an AFP tally drawn from official figures.

The toll is at least 1,500,350 deaths, with more than 45 million cases of the virus recorded.

Brazil in particular surpassed 600,000 deaths on Friday, the second hardest hit country after the United States.

After Brazil come Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Argentina in terms of deaths.

Peru has the highest per capita COVID toll, at 605 fatalities per 100,00 inhabitants.

Globally the pandemic has now claimed more than 4.8 million lives, with more than 237 million cases of the disease reported.

AFP compiles its tally with figures from national governments and the World Health Organization.