BRASILIA, July 8 (NNN-Xinhua) — Brazil registered 1,648 more deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 528,540, the health ministry said.
A total of 54,022 new infections were detected, raising the total caseload to 18,909,037, the ministry said.
Brazil has the world’s second highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third largest caseload, following the United States and India.
So far, more than 106.2 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered nationwide, and over 27.7 million people have been fully vaccinated, it added.
BUENOS AIRES: Argentina registered 457 more deaths from COVID-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the total death toll from the pandemic to 97,439, the Health Ministry said.
In the same period, tests detected 19,423 new cases of infection, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 4,593,763, the ministry said.
Hospital occupancy nationwide is 64.6 percent, while the metropolitan area of the capital Buenos Aires registered 62.1 percent.
According to the Public Vaccination Monitor, 23,608,836 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been applied since the vaccination drive was launched at the end of December 2020.
The government of the province of Buenos Aires, the most populated in the country and the hardest hit with 1,881,101 cases, has called for volunteers to participate in a study to determine the efficacy of combining doses of different vaccines.
Those eligible must get their first jab 15 days to two months prior to enrolling in the study.
SANTIAGO: Chile reported less than 2,000 COVID-19 cases for the second consecutive day, continuing a gradual decline in infections prior to a lifting of a lockdown, the Ministry of Health said.
In a statement, Health Minister Enrique Paris said that in the last 24 hours, 1,892 COVID-19 infections were reported, bringing the total number to 1,576,336.
There were also 40 more deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the death toll to 33,328, according to the ministry.
On Thursday, Chile lifted the lockdown in the Santiago Metropolitan Region by reducing quarantines in the remaining communes, after the region reported a significant drop in the positivity rate.
On the same day, the South American country will move into phase 3, meaning no quarantines, with restrictions applying to only 29 municipalities. — NNN-XINHUA
