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WHO Declares Latin America the New COVID Epicenter

VOA News

   Latin America is the new epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, the
   World HealthOrganizationdeclared Monday, as the region's daily death
   ratenowexceedsthat in eithertheUnitedStatesorEurope.

   The WHO said Monday there are nearly 938,000
   COVID-19relatedcasesthroughoutLatinAmericaand the Caribbean and almost
   50,000deathsaday.Brazil, Chile and Ecuador lead Central and
   SouthAmericawith the most cases.

   In the United States, COVID-19has killed about 26,000nursing
   homeresidents,thegovernmentreports, accounting fornearly one-fourth of
   all U.S. deaths from the disease.About 450nursinghome staffers have
   also diedofCOVID-19.

   "This data, and anecdotal reports across the country, clearly show that
   nursing homes have been devastated by the virus," CDC Director Robert
   Redfield and Centers for Medicare andMedicaid Services chiefSeema
   Vermasaid in a letter to stategovernors.

   COVID-19 isespeciallydevastatingto the elderly, many of whom already
   have other health issues. Some experts say the number of COVID cases in
   nursinghomescould beundercountedbecausesome ofthedeaths may
   beattributedto othercauses.

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