The Associated Press
In Ecuador, Families Wait With Their Dead as Bodies Pile Up
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) — Daniel Larrea died Monday after a week of high fever, struggling to breathe and steadily turning blue. Then a new nightmare began for his family. No one in their city on Ecuador’s Pacific coast would pick up his body.
26 Infected With Coronavirus at Mexico Hospital; Doctor Dead
MEXICO CITY (AP) — The Mexican government is sanitizing a public hospital in a northern steel town that has become the center of a coronavirus outbreak that has sickened at least 26 members of the medical staff and killed one of its doctors.
Venezuelan Crown Jewel Rum Distillery Takes on Coronavirus
LA VICTORIA, Venezuela (AP) — The Santa Teresa distillery in Venezuela has lifted spirits for generations with its amber-red rum, famous around the world for being slowly sipped over ice or mixed into cocktails like the Cuba Libre.
Migrant Dies in Mexico Detention Center Riot Over Virus Fear
MEXICO CITY (AP) — A Guatemalan migrant died during a riot at an immigration detention center in Mexico, where detainees burned mattresses to protest conditions they say could expose them to the new coronavirus, officials said Wednesday.
Puerto Rico Acknowledges Missteps as Coronavirus Peak Looms
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico’s newest health secretary on Wednesday acknowledged a series of mistakes the government has committed as the U.S. territory prepares for a peak in coronavirus cases.
AP Sources: US to Deploy Anti-Drug Ships Near Venezuela
MIAMI (AP) — The Trump administration will soon announce that the U.S. is moving naval ships toward Venezuela as it enhances counter-narcotic operations in the Caribbean following a U.S. drug indictment against Nicolás Maduro, according to three people familiar with the situation.
White House Projects 100K to 240K US Deaths From Virus
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump on Tuesday warned Americans to brace for a “hell of a bad two weeks” ahead as the White House projected there could be 100,000 to 240,000 deaths in the U.S. from the coronavirus pandemic even if current social distancing guidelines are maintained.
Too Little Too Late? Experts Decry Mexico Virus Policy Delay
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico has started taking tougher measures against the coronavirus after weeks of its president hugging followers and saying religious medals would protect him. Some experts warn the sprawling country of 129 million is acting too late and testing too little to prevent the type of crisis unfolding across the border in the United States.
Facebook Joins Resistance to Bolsonaro Virus Claims
SÃO PAULO (AP) — Major social media companies are taking aim at Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro’s dismissal of social distancing, joining others in the country who have lined up against his controversial stance regarding the new coronavirus.
Puerto Rico Shutters Police Stations Amid COVID-19 Outbreak
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Puerto Rico on Tuesday closed its third police station in a week, raising concerns about the ability of the U.S. territory to respond to the coronavirus pandemic as officers accused the government of exposing one of the largest police departments in a U.S. jurisdiction to COVID-19.
US Outlines Plan for Venezuela Transition, Sanctions Relief
MIAMI (AP) — The Trump administration is prepared to lift crippling sanctions on Venezuela in support of a new proposal to form a transitional government requiring both Nicolas Maduro and opposition leader Juan Guaidó to step aside in favor of a five-person governing council, U.S. officials said.
Brazilian Pews Become Trenches in Fight Against Quarantine
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Like every Sunday, Brazilian Pastor Silas Malafaia took the stage of his Pentecostal temple in a middle-class Rio de Janeiro neighborhood. But this week, he wore a T-shirt instead of a blazer and, behind the three cameras broadcasting to his legion of YouTube followers, were thousands of empty seats.
Mexico Broadens One-Month Shutdown as Virus Cases Top 1,094
MEXICO CITY (AP) — Mexico’s government broadened its shutdown of “non-essential activities” to the private sector and prohibited gatherings of more than 50 people to fight the spread of the new coronavirus.
Brazil’s Carnival Beat Fades, Making Way for Virus Shelter
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — A month ago, a massive Carnival party bursting with samba music and smiling faces raged inside Rio de Janeiro’s Sambadrome. Today, its floodlights are off and there’s no hint of celebration as its grounds serve a humanitarian purpose: protecting the homeless from the new coronavirus.
Coronavirus Response Highlights Deepening Partisan Divide
The fierce tribalism that has characterized debates over immigration, taxes and health care is now coloring policy-making during a coronavirus outbreak that threatens countless lives and local economies across nation.
School Shutdowns Raise Stakes of Digital Divide for Students
WINNSBORO, S.C. (AP) — Students struggling to get online in a rural South Carolina county received a boost last week with the arrival of six buses equipped with Wi-Fi, some of the hundreds the state has rolled out since schools were closed by the coronavirus outbreak.
Coronavirus Hits Rich and Poor Unequally in Latin America
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — From Mexico City to Port-au-Prince, Haiti, and Santiago, Chile, the coronavirus is taking root in the world’s most unequal region, where many of Latin America’s first cases arrived with members of the elite returning from vacations or work trips to Europe and the United States.
Brazil’s Bolsonaro Makes Life-or-Death Coronavirus Gamble
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — Even as coronavirus cases mount in Latin America’s largest nation, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has staked out the most deliberately dismissive position of any major world leader, calling the pandemic a momentary, minor problem and saying strong measures to contain it are unnecessary.
Govt Under Fire After 1st Puerto Rican Coronavirus Death
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Government officials faced heavy criticism for their response to the coronavirus outbreak in Puerto Rico as details trickled out about the newest death reported Friday in the U.S. territory, which was the first for a resident.
Up to 200K US Deaths Foreseen as More Cities Stricken
NEW YORK (AP) — The coronavirus outbreak could kill 100,000 to 200,000 Americans, the U.S. government’s top infectious-disease expert warned on Sunday as smoldering hotspots in nursing homes and a growing list of stricken cities heightened the sense of dread across the country.
Coronavirus Makes It Harder for Campaigns to Ask for Money
WASHINGTON (AP) — White House candidates aren’t usually bashful about asking supporters for money.