Americas surpass 1 million COVID-19 deaths

By Gabriel Toueg

SAO PAULO, Brazil (AA) - With Mexico becoming Thursday the third country in number of COVID-19 deaths in the world, the Americas have surpassed the dramatic milestone of one million casualties, according to figures from Johns Hopkins University.

America has become the first world region to reach that mark, with roughly half of the nearly 2.2 million world's deaths, followed by Europe with nearly 680,000 deaths, Asia (370,000), Africa (89,000) and Oceania (less than 1,000).

Carissa Etienne, director of the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), said that those were “a million people with hopes, dreams and a truncated future. A million families in mourning, many unable to say goodbye, who will feel their absence forever”. According to her, “The scars and lessons of this pandemic will remain with us”.

“While hospitalizations are increasing in much of the region, including Colombia, Chile and Peru, the situation in Brazil is particularly worrying,” PAHO’s Etienne highlighted. The director of the Pan-American body explained that in Brazil, almost three quarters of all ICU beds in many states are used to treat COVID-19 patients.

Now, for the first time, the first three countries in number of victims of the new coronavirus are all in the region: United States, Brazil and Mexico, in that order. Together, the three countries now account for almost 810,000 casualties. The US has more than 433,300 deaths, while Brazil has over 221,500, and Mexico, over 155,100. India follows in fourth, with 154,010 casualties.

The top 10 of American countries by COVID-19 casualties are completed by Colombia, with 52,913 deaths, 12th in the world ranking; Argentina, with 47,601 (13th); Peru, with 40,484 (15th); Canada, with 19,659 (21st); Chile, with 18,174 (23rd); Ecuador, with 14,766 (25th); and Bolivia, with 10,226 (33rd). Together, these seven countries alone account for more than 203,000 deaths.

In the American region, which includes both North and South America, and accounts for 35 countries in total, only two nations, Dominica and Saint Kitts and Nevis, have so far had no record of deaths from COVID-19, but both have less than 100,000 inhabitants.

Regarding the size of its population, the most affected countries by the pandemic so far were Panama, with 13.23%; the US, with 12.93%; Peru, with 12.57%; Mexico, with 11.92%; Colombia, with 10.51%; and Brazil, with 10.38%. The PAHO said Colombia has had the highest increase in cases in South America.