Latin America virus cases top 1.5 mln as markets fear second wave

A worrying social crisis is brewing in Latin America where the coronavirus pandemic is spiralling, experts are warning, as fears of a second wave in the United States sent shivers through global markets.

More than 1.5 million people have been infected in Central and South America -- 70,000 of them are already dead -- with no signs of the disease slowing, especially in hard-hit Brazil.

The crisis could provoke the region's "worst recession in history", the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) said.

"We're worried the region could come out of this crisis with more debt, poorer, hungrier and with more unemployment. And most of all, angry," said ECLAC general secretary Alicia Barcena.

The fracture lines in Brazilian society are already evident.

Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the pandemic's scale, calling COVID-19 "a flu".

Protesting that stance, campaigners on Thursday dug 100 graves on Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro, each marked with a black cross, to denounce what they called the "incompetence" of authorities.

"We are here to demand a change of attitude from the president... who must understand that our nation is facing the most difficult moment in its history," said Antonio Carlos Costa.

In the US, President Donald Trump was leading the charge to continue reopening the economy, announcing plans for a set of re-election rallies this month.

That is despite signs that the pandemic is not tamed there, with more than 2 million infections and 114,000 deaths.
Figures showed a spike in new infections in key states including Texas, California, Arizona and Florida.

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