Peru is the country with the highest mortality rate due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Latin America. As of November 13, 2023, the country registered over 672 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants. It was followed by Brazil, with around 331.5 fatal cases per 100,000 population. In total, over 1.76 million people have died due to COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean.

Are these figures accurate? Although countries like Brazil already rank among the countries most affected by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), there is still room to believe that the number of cases and deaths in Latin American countries are underreported. The main reason is the relatively low number of tests performed in the region. For example, Brazil, one of the most impacted countries in the world, has performed approximately 63.7 million tests as of December 22, 2022. This compared with over one billion tests performed in the United States, approximately 909 million tests completed in India, or around 522 million tests carried out in the United Kingdom.

Capacity to deal with the outbreak With the spread of the Omicron variant, the COVID-19 pandemic is putting health systems around the world under serious pressure. The lack of equipment to treat acute cases, for instance, is one of the problems affecting Latin American countries. In 2019, the number of ventilators in hospitals in the most affected countries ranged from 25.23 per 100,000 inhabitants in Brazil to 5.12 per 100,000 people in Peru.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Brazil is the Latin American country affected the most by the COVID-19 pandemic. As of May 2025, the country had reported around 38 million cases. It was followed by Argentina, with approximately ten million confirmed cases of COVID-19. In total, the region had registered more than 83 million diagnosed patients, as well as a growing number of fatal COVID-19 cases. The research marathon Normally, the development of vaccines takes years of research and testing until options are available to the general public. However, with an alarming and threatening situation as that of the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists quickly got on board in a vaccine marathon to develop a safe and effective way to prevent and control the spread of the virus in record time. Over two years after the first cases were reported, the world had around 1,521 drugs and vaccines targeting the COVID-19 disease. As of June 2022, a total of 39 candidates were already launched and countries all over the world had started negotiations and acquisition of the vaccine, along with immunization campaigns. COVID vaccination rates in Latin America As immunization against the spread of the disease continues to progress, regional disparities in vaccination coverage persist. While Brazil, Argentina, and Mexico were among the Latin American nations with the most COVID-19 cases, those that administered the highest number of COVID-19 doses per 100 population are Cuba, Chile, and Peru. Leading the vaccination coverage in the region is the Caribbean nation, with more than 406 COVID-19 vaccines administered per every 100 inhabitants as of January 5, 2024.For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

According to recent estimates, the most affected sectors by the coronavirus pandemic in Latin America would be wholesale and retail trade as well as services in general, such as tourism, foodservice, transport, and communications. In 2020, this group of most affected sectors was forecasted to represent more than 16 percent of Brazil’s gross domestic product (GDP). Among the countries shown in this graph, Brazil is the nation where sectors moderately affected by the pandemic could represent the highest contribution to GDP (75.8 percent).

Which Latin American economies were most vulnerable to the pandemic? In 2020, the economic sectors most affected by the coronavirus pandemic - wholesale and retail, hotels and restaurants, transport and services in general - were forecasted to account for 35.5 percent of Panama’s GDP. In addition, the moderately and most affected economic segments were estimated to contribute the most to Panama’s GDP (a combined 97.6 percent) than any other country in this region. A similar scenario was projected in Mexico, where the sectors that would least suffer the pandemic's negative effects would account for only 3.4 percent of GDP.

Did the pandemic put a stop to economic growth in Latin America? Economic growth changed dramatically after the COVID-19 outbreak. Most of the largest economies in Latin America fell under recession in 2020. Estimates predict a more optimistic scenario for 2021, with countries such as Mexico, Colombia, and Argentina growing their GDP at least five percent.

As of May 11, 2025, nearly 1.8 million people have died due COVID-19 in Latin America and the Caribbean. The country with the highest number was Brazil, reporting around 700,000 deaths. As a result of the pandemic, Brazil's GDP was forecast to decline by approximately six percent in 2020. Meanwhile, Mexico ranked second in number of deaths, with approximately 335 thousand occurrences. For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

BackgroundThe Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) region has been one of the regions most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, with countries presenting some of the highest numbers of cases and deaths from this disease in the world. Despite this, vaccination intention is not homogeneous in the region, and no study has evaluated the influence of the mass media on vaccination intention. The objective of this study was to evaluate the association between the use of mass media to learn about COVID-19 and the non-intention of vaccination against COVID-19 in LAC countries.MethodsAn analysis of secondary data from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) survey was conducted in collaboration with Facebook on people's beliefs, behaviors, and norms regarding COVID-19. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) with their respective 95% confidence intervals (95%CI) were calculated to evaluate the association between the use of mass media and non-vaccination intention using generalized linear models of the Poisson family with logarithmic link.ResultsA total of 350,322 Facebook users over the age of 18 from LAC countries were included. 50.0% were men, 28.4% were between 18 and 30 years old, 41.4% had a high school education level, 86.1% lived in the city and 34.4% reported good health condition. The prevalence of using the mass media to learn about COVID-19 was mostly through mixed media (65.8%). The non-intention of vaccination was 10.8%. A higher prevalence of not intending to be vaccinated against COVID-19 was found in those who used traditional media (aPR = 1.36; 95%CI: 1.29–1.44; p < 0.001) and digital media (aPR = 1.70; 95%CI: 1.24–2.33; p = 0.003) compared to those using mixed media.ConclusionWe found an association between the type of mass media used to learn about COVID-19 and the non-intention of vaccination. The use of only traditional or digital information sources were associated with a higher probability of non-intention to vaccinate compared to the use of both sources.

As of April 2021, Mexico's gross domestic product (GDP) was forecasted to increase by five percent during 2021. Mexico was one of the Latin American countries that faced the worst recession after the COVID-19 pandemic, as its GDP fell over eight percent in 2020. Among the biggest economies in the region, Brazil was expected to experience one of the lowest GDP growth in 2021, at around 3.7 percent.

For further information about the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, please visit our dedicated Facts and Figures page.

Bolivia and the Dominican Republic both tied as the countries most prone to suffering epidemics in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to a risk index calculated based on the estimated number of people exposed to this type of event per year, both countries faced a risk of *** points in 2025. Guyana had the second-highest score, with an epidemic risk index of ***.

Vaccine distribution in the Global South has created opportunities for vaccine-developing countries to improve their international reputations. Leveraging a panel survey conducted in early 2021, we evaluate whether “vaccine diplomacy” affects trust in foreign governments in six Latin American countries. Among vaccinated respondents, we find that trust in the government of the country that they believed developed their vaccine increased relative to trust in the governments of other foreign powers. Furthermore, providing information about the aggregate distribution of vaccines within a respondent’s country increased vaccine-eligible respondents’ trust in the governments of countries from which more vaccines were delivered. In each case, greater trust principally reflects updated perceptions of a common good motivation. Our empirical findings suggest that vaccine distribution—especially for China, but for other vaccine-developing countries as well—can cultivate favorable international public opinion. This may in turn facilitate great powers’ economic, political, or military foreign policy goals. --- This directory replicates the analysis in "Vaccine Diplomacy: How COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution in Latin America Increases Trust in Foreign Governments," by Barham, Daly, Gerez, Marshall, and Pocasangre. Be sure to read the readme.txt file before running the code.

BackgroundThe Latin American and the Caribbean (LAC) is one of the most disaster-prone regions worldwide, and the frequency and intensity of disasters is expected to increase. We propose typologies of shocks considering healthcare resilience to examine how the risk of shocks varies across LAC and how previous shocks and their impacts in LAC fit into these categories.MethodsWe classify shocks into natural, anthropogenic and climate-related, and build on the literature to develop a 2×2 classification considering health care resilience and trust in government. Using the INFORM risk we categorize countries into risk groups considering indicators of governance and access to healthcare as proxies for trust in government and health care resilience, respectively. We discuss the 2×2 classification considering examples of health impacts of shocks, highlighting strengths and weaknesses of national responses, and use excess death ratios during the COVID-19 pandemic to demonstrate how health impacts correspond to the 2×2 typology.ResultsBased on the available literature, the proposed 2×2 classification reflects the recent consequences of shocks in LAC countries. Overall, areas where healthcare access and trust in government were weak had the most devastating impacts. However, strong access to healthcare is not a sufficient condition determining the impact of a shock, as evidenced during the COVID-19 pandemic. For the most part, countries lack a detailed shock management plan.DiscussionCountries in the LAC region have historically been unprepared to manage shocks. In the absence of a comprehensive and multisectoral shock management plan, countries will continue to act in a reactive way, after a shock, as most of the examples discussed in our analysis illustrate. A shock management plan is an important step to build resilient health systems.

As of July 2023, the Omicron variant was the most prevalent among selected countries in Latin America. The share of COVID-19 cases corresponding to the Omicron variant amounted to 100 percent of the analyzed sequences of SARS-CoV-2 in Colombia. The variant Omicron (XBB.1.5) accounted for nearly 81 percent of the sequenced cases in the country, while Omicron (XBB.1.9) added up to 14 percent. Similarly, Peru reported over 90 percent of its reviewed sequences corresponding to the variant Omicron (XBB.1.5), while Omicron (XBB) accounted for around 2.4 percent of cases studied. A regional overview The Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 - the virus causing COVID-19 - was designated as a variant of concern by the World Health Organization in November 2021. Since then, it has been rapidly spreading, causing an unprecedented increase in the number of cases reported worldwide. In Latin America, Brazil had been the most affected country by the disease already before the emergence of the Omicron variant, with nearly 37.4 million cases and around 701,494 confirmed deaths as of May 2, 2023. However, it is Peru that has the largest mortality rate per 100,000 inhabitants due to the SARS-Cov-2 in the region, with roughly 672 deaths per 100,000 people. Vaccination campaigns in Latin America As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause social and economic harm worldwide, most Latin American and Caribbean countries advance their immunization programs. As of August 14, 2023, Brazil had administered the largest number of vaccines in the region, with over 486.4 million doses. Mexico and Argentina followed, with about 223.1 million and 116 million COVID-19 doses administered, respectively. However, Cuba had the highest vaccination rate not only in the region, but also the world, with around 391 vaccines given per 100 people.Find the most up-to-date information about the coronavirus pandemic in the world under Statista’s COVID-19 facts and figures site.

This study investigates a novel dataset comprised of a universe of 537 donations in 33 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean, between February 11 and June 20, 2020, which provides a high level of detail on China’s and Taiwan’s mask diplomacy. We describe who the main donors were, who the main recipients were, what was donated to each country, and which variables explain why some countries received more aid than the others. Drawing on previous literature, the article advances understanding about the political determinants of these donations. Our findings revealed that, although seemingly uncoordinated, donations made by China's central government, Chinese companies, cities, and foundations were strongly affected by two political determinants, namely the recipient’s partnership status with China and the One China Policy. Furthermore, aid provided by China’s Central Government was larger in autocracies than in democracies.

Brazil was one of the countries most impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in Latin America and the world considering the number of cases, deaths, and the duration of lockdowns. Between 2020 and 2022, both pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions (NPIs) were adopted at the municipal level, with 5,568 municipalities and the Federal District taking health-related actions. We present a new dataset revealing the complexity of this situation by reporting data based on thirty-seven surveys taken by mayors between 23 March 2021 and 24 March 2022. The number of participating municipalities in each survey varied over time. The database indicates in which rounds each municipality participated. The minimum number of participating municipalities was 1,328 (23.8%), while the maximum reached 3,591 (64.49%), showing significant variation. The median was 2,461 (44.19%), and the mean of 2,482 (44.57%) suggests that, in general, municipal participation was close to the median, suggesting the dat..., Information on local NPI policies related to COVID-19 was collected through a telephone survey conducted directly with mayors, who had the option of receiving a password-protected link to respond to the online questionnaire later or to update previous responses. We focused on information concerning three essential dimensions related to the pandemic response: the monitoring of restrictive measures, infrastructure to treat infected people, and the implementation of the vaccination programme. We have included the week that respondents received the questionnaire, the initial date the questionnaire was presented to respondents, and the final date of questionnaire submission. We collaborated with the Brazilian Confederation of Municipalities (CNM) to collect these data. The cooperation was formalised in a meeting with the CNM on 9 April 2020, and a written agreement was signed by the first and last authors of this article. The authors were given permission to describe, publish, and analyse th..., , # Brazilian municipal health policies during the COVID-19 pandemic

https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.v6wwpzh5h

Description of the data and file structure

This dataset gathers information on the processes and activities of the pandemic response in Brazil, as well as the epidemiological outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic in Brazilian municipalities.

Five documents are available: the database (bank_measures_complete_2.Rda**), the codebook (codebook_complete_2(1).csv), the table with the municipal participation rate (participation.csv), a table detailing which questions are included in each round of the surveys (table_contention.csv), and the (manipulation_base.R) that describes the process of manipulating and cleaning the data.

Further details about each document are provided below.

bank_measues_complete_2.Rda

This is the database containing all the questions and all the rounds conducted with the municipalities. The...,

Abstract

Latin American and the Caribbean is one of the regions in the world most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Bank conducted a series of High-Frequency Phone Surveys (HFPS) to assess the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the welfare of Latin American and Caribbean households. Between March and August 2020, the HFPS collected nationally representative information for thirteen countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Paraguay, and Peru.

Geographic coverage

National level.

Analysis unit

Households and individuals of 18 years of age and older.

Universe

Households with a landline or in which at least one member has a cell phone, and individuals 18 years of age or above who have an active cell phone number or a landline at home.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

Sample is based on a dual frame of cell phone and landline numbers generated through a Random Digit Dialing (RDD) process. In the first phase, a large sample was selected in both frames, and then screened through an automated process to identify the active, eligible numbers. A smaller second-phase sample was selected from the active residential numbers from in the first-phase sample and was delivered to the country teams. See Sampling Design and Weighting document for more detail.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Telephone Interview [cati]

Research instrument

Questionnaires are available in Spanish. The questionnaire for the first wave followed closely the World Bank’s HFPS Global Core Questionnaire but had some critical variations. There were also some modifications in the subsequent waves.

The El-Salvador COVID-19 High Frequency Phone Survey questionnaires consist of the following sections: • Cover Page (Wave 1, 2, 3) • Basic Information (Wave 1, 2, 3) • Knowledge Regarding the Spread of COVID-19 (Wave 1) • Behaviour and Social Distancing (Wave 1, 2, 3) • Access to Basic Services (Wave 1, 2, 3) • Employment (Wave 1, 2, 3) • Income Loss (Wave 1, 3) • Food Security (Wave 1, 2, 3) • Concerns (Wave 1, 2, 3) • Coping Strategies (Wave 1, 3) • Social Safety Nets (Wave 1, 2, 3) • Trust (Wave 3)

BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic posed challenges to surgical training, demanding a balance between theoretical and practical knowledge, especially in Latin American countries. Therefore, our aim was to characterize the challenges faced by surgical education in these countries.MethodsA systematic search was conducted on PubMed, Scopus, and the Virtual Health Library on March 23, 2022, yielding 2,838 articles. Articles were filtered by two independent reviewers focusing on the effect of the pandemic in surgical education.ResultsA total of 31 articles were selected; 54.83% of surgical programs reported a reduction in surgical involvement by trainees. First-year residents were the most affected, with some surgical residency programs forced to shift their residents to take care of COVID-19 patients; additionally, in 67.74% of cases, online courses and virtual simulation was implemented. Most of the residents had a positive opinion regarding virtual lectures but considered that their surgical skills were affected.ConclusionThe development of surgical skills was hindered by changes in surgery prioritization, techniques, and a decrease in caseload. The pandemic also caused a reliance on virtual formats for education and patient care. This shift created irregularities in training but increased opportunities for alternate activities.

On the week of the **** of July, the highest number of online mentions related to COVID-19 came from Brazil, where approximately *** million mentions were registered. Mexico came in second with *** million mentions, followed by Argentina with *** million. As of March 2020, Brazil concentrated about ** percent of social media posts containing the terms 'coronavirus' or 'COVID-19'.

Peru was one of the countries most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic in terms of health and economic impacts and the erosion of the socialgains achieved in the previous decade. By July 2022, Peru had registered more than 6,000 deaths per million population because of COVID-19,placing the country among the countries with the highest COVID-related mortality rates per capita. The economy contracted by 11 percent in 2020, its biggest fall in 30 years and the largest in Latin America during that year. As a result, the national poverty rate increased to 30.1 percent, a level not seen since 2010, and extreme poverty reached 5.1percent in 2020, comparable with the rate in 2013. By the end of 2021, the economy had recovered, but poverty and extreme poverty remained at the levels of 2012 and 2015, respectively. The magnitude of the welfare loss during the crisis revealed the fragility of the social gains that had been achieved during the previous two decades.

The study began by defining the research question: How did information technologies impact Latin American academic libraries during the period of social isolation?

The tool consists of questions related to technologies, services, users, training of librarians, and finally, questions about their future perspectives. QuestionPro was chosen as the software for information processing.

After a final review of the instrument, a pilot test was carried out resulting in fifteen questionnaires that are being completed by librarians from seven Latin American countries. After asking and developing some more detailed questions, a final version was structured and distributed to a community of librarians who participated in a web seminar called "From Automation to Discovery": Information Technologies in the Academic Library" by the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México

A total of 1638 participants began the survey of which 1144 were able to complete it. Of these, only the information of 749 participants who are within the category of university academic libraries was analyzed.

Abstract

The World Bank conducted Phase 2 of the High-Frequency Phone Survey (HFPS) project in 2021 to continue to assess the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latin America and The Caribbean households. Phase 2 was conducted in partnership with the UNDP LAC Chief Economist office and included two waves.

Ecuador has been part of all waves of data collection as part of the Regional effort. In 2022, in partnership with the Joint Data Center on Forced Displacement, two additional waves of data were collected in February and June. This study presents these last waves of data (Wave 3 and Wave 4).

Geographic coverage

National level excluding the Galapagos Islands.

Analysis unit

Households and individuals of 18 years of age and older.

Sampling procedure

Phase 2 Wave 1 samples for the Original Countries included two components: a) a panel formed by respondents to Phase 1 Wave 1, and b) a supplement fresh sample of phone numbers to compensate for attrition between Phase 1 Wave 1 and Phase 2 Wave 1, and to slightly increase the overall sample size.

The samples of the Added Countries (i.e. those only included in Phase 2) is based on a dual frame of cell phone and landline numbers generated through a Random Digit Dialing (RDD) process. In the first phase, a large sample was selected in both frames, and then screened through an automated process to identify the active, eligible numbers. A smaller second-phase sample was selected from the active residential numbers from in the first-phase sample and was delivered to the country teams. See Sampling Design and Weighting document for more detail.

Sampling deviation

Ecuador is the only country from Phase I where a fully fresh sample of phone numbers is used for Phase II and was treated as an Added Country. Waves 3 and 4 were collected only for Ecuador, replicating the procedures applied for Wave 2. See Sampling Design and Weighting document for more detail.

Mode of data collection

Computer Assisted Telephone Interview [cati]

Research instrument

Questionnaires are available in Spanish. Note that questionnaires for Waves 3 and 4 have some variations from previous waves.

This paper used Our World data for coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) death count, test data, stringency, and transmission count and prepared a path model for COVID-19 deaths. We augmented the model with age structure-related variables and comorbidity via non-communicable diseases for 117 countries of the world for September 23, 2021, on a cross-section basis. A broad-based global quantitative study incorporating these two prominent channels with regional variation was unavailable in the existing literature. Old age and comorbidity were identified as two prime determinants of COVID-19 mortality. The path model showed that after controlling for these factors, one SD increase in the proportion of persons above 65, above 70, or of median age raised COVID-19 mortality by more than 0.12 SDs for 117 countries. The regional intensity of death is alarmingly high in South America, Europe, and North America compared with Oceania. After controlling for regions, the figure was raised to 0.213, which was even higher. For old age, the incremental coefficient was the highest for South America (0.564), and Europe (0.314), which were substantially higher than in Oceania. The comorbidity channel via non-communicable diseases illustrated that one SD increase in non-communicable disease intensity increased COVID-19 mortality by 0.132 for the whole sample. The regional figure for the non-communicable disease was 0.594 for South America and 0.358 for Europe compared with the benchmark region Oceania. The results were statistically significant at a 10% level of significance or above. This suggested that we should prioritize vaccinations for the elderly and people with comorbidity via non-communicable diseases like heart disease, cancer, chronic respiratory disease, and diabetes. Further attention should be given to South America and Europe, which are the worst affected regions of the world.

This study explored the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on perceived health behaviors; physical activity, sleep, and diet behaviors, alongside associations with wellbeing. Participants were 1,140 individuals residing in the United Kingdom (n = 230), South Korea (n = 204), Finland (n = 171), Philippines (n = 132), Latin America (n = 124), Spain (n = 112), North America (n = 87), and Italy (n = 80). They completed an online survey reporting possible changes in the targeted behaviors as well as perceived changes in their physical and mental health. Multivariate analyses of covariance (MANCOVA) on the final sample (n = 1,131) revealed significant mean differences regarding perceived physical and mental health “over the last week,” as well as changes in health behaviors during the pandemic by levels of physical activity and country of residence. Follow up analyses indicated that individuals with highest decrease in physical activity reported significantly lower physical and mental health, while those with highest increase in physical activity reported significantly higher increase in sleep and lower weight gain. United Kingdom participants reported lowest levels of physical health and highest increase in weight while Latin American participants reported being most affected by emotional problems. Finnish participants reported significantly higher ratings for physical health. The physical activity by country interaction was significant for wellbeing. MANCOVA also revealed significant differences across physical activity levels and four established age categories. Participants in the oldest category reported being significantly least affected by personal and emotional problems; youngest participants reported significantly more sleep. The age by physical activity interaction was significant for eating. Discussed in light of Hobfoll (1998) conservation of resources theory, findings endorse the policy of advocating physical activity as a means of generating and maintaining resources combative of stress and protective of health.