Argentina’s Health Ministry reported a record high of 139,853 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in 24 hours on Friday, as total infections since the start of the pandemic creep closer to seven million.
The new daily high means that 6,932,972 infections have been registered since March 3, 2020, with the true number likely to be much higher, according to experts.
Authorities said that 96 deaths had also been recorded, lifting the cumulative death toll to 117,901.
Officials said the test positivity rate had hit 69.83 percent – well above the 10 percent recommended by the World Health Organisation. ICU units are at 41.7 percent capacity nationwide, with 2,268 people hospitalised in such wards.
Latin America and the Caribbean registered an average of more than 300,000 new daily Covid-19 cases from January 7 to 13, according to a count based on official figures.
Argentina was the worst affected country accounting for almost 140,000 of those cases, as well as a seven-day average of 96 deaths.
The average daily new cases in Latin America of 304,000 is almost double the previous high from the region's last wave when 155,000 daily cases were recorded from May 28 to June 3, 2021. The new record was a 126 percent increase on the previous seven days.
Deaths have likewise increased, although without reaching anything like the levels of the last wave. The seven-day average from January 7-13 was 621 deaths, a 44 percent increase on the previous seven days.
It is still a long way off the record number of average daily deaths of more than 5,500 between April 6-12, 2021.
– TIMES/AFP/NA
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