Argentina became the fifth nation to officially record at least one million coronavirus cases yesterday.

So far, 26,716 Argentinians have died from the virus which has claimed 1.1 million lives globally, according to the John Hopkins University.

The Latin American’s total is only

surpassed by the United States which has 8.2 million; India (7.6 million);

Brazil (5.3 million) and Russia (1.4 million).

The increase comes as the world also

topped 40 million cases of the virus yesterday although many experts say the

number is much higher due to a lack of testing and underreporting.

Three other nations in Latin America –

Colombia, Mexico and Peru – are expected to cross the one-million cases mark in

the coming weeks as the pandemic continues to overwhelm populations across the

globe.

The virus’ second wave is arriving without

the region having ever finished the first, said Dr Luis Jorge Hernandez, public

health professor at the University of the Andes in Colombia