Venezuelan governor dies of COVID-19

By Laura Gamba

BOGOTA, Colombia (AA) - Dario Vivas, the governor of Venezuela's Caracas capital district, died Thursday of COVID-19.

Vivas, a strong ally of President Nicolas Maduro, announced on July 19 that he had tested positive for the disease.

"He died in combat...taking care of his health and all of us in this difficult battle against the COVID-19 pandemic," Vice President Delcy Rodriguez wrote on Twitter.

Vivas is the third high-level Venezuelan official to contract the coronavirus.

The country had reported 29,088 cases of COVID-19 as of Thursday with 247 deaths.

Mexico

Mexican Foreign Secretary Marcelo Ebrard released details of an agreement between the governments of Mexico and Argentina, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals and the Carlos Slim Foundation to produce and distribute a vaccine developed by Oxford University.

Speaking at a press conference, Ebrard said the foundation of Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim would guarantee that production starts on time. He said results from Phase III clinical trials are expected in November.

"The purpose of AstraZeneca, the Carlos Slim Foundation and the University of Oxford is not profit. It is to guarantee that Latin America has access to this vaccine, and that is the motivation of the government of Mexico and Argentina," said Ebrard.

Mexico has reported 505,751 confirmed cases and more than 55,000 deaths as of Thursday.

Peru

Peruvian President Martin Vizcarra banned family gatherings and expanded quarantine measures to five more regions of the country amid a new spike in cases of the coronavirus.

The country has 498,555 cases and 21,713 deaths related to the virus.

Colombia

Human Rights Watch and the Johns Hopkins Center for Humanitarian Health released a joint report in which both entities say that mandatory isolation and containment measures put in place due to the pandemic in Colombia are making it harder for the Wayuu Indigenous communities to survive.

Measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 have put additional pressure on Wayuu communities in Colombia’s La Guajira department because travel restrictions severely limit access to food, the report said.

"Indigenous communities in La Guajira do not have access to enough food or water to practice basic hygiene, including hand washing, and information and access to health care is extremely poor," said Human Rights Watch's director for the Americas, José Miguel Vivanco.

The country has recorded 422,519 cases and 13,837 deaths.