Lima
Peru on Sunday passed 13,000 coronavirus deaths, the health ministry said, a day before the country is scheduled to reopen restaurants as part of easing lockdown measures.
An additional 189 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, bringing the toll to 13,187, according to the ministry’s daily report.
The report also showed 4,090 new infections had been recorded, bringing the total caseload to 353,590.
Peru, with 33 million inhabitants, has the second-highest number of cases in Latin America, after Brazil. It also has the third-highest death toll, after Brazil and Mexico.
The country’s hospitals are close to collapse as the number of patients continues to climb. There is a shortage of medical equipment and other resources that has led to complaints by health workers.
Doctors and nurses protested their situation Sunday outside a hospital in the city of Arequipa, during a visit from President Martin Vizcarra.—AP
