MEXICO CITY—Mexico registered 47,144 cases of coronavirus on Saturday, with the country’s death toll rising to 5,045, health authorities said.
Mexico has seen a slightly higher death rate from coronavirus than the global average so far.
Similar efforts to fire up the economy were gathering pace in Brazil, as Bolsonaro urged business leaders to push for lifting lockdown orders in Sao Paulo, the financial center.
Brazil, the hardest-hit country in Latin America, registered a daily record of 13,944 new cases, bringing its total to 202,918 confirmed cases of the virus and 13,933 deaths since the outbreak began, according to health ministry data.
In a videoconference, Bolsonaro told a gathering of business leaders to “play tough” with Sao Paulo Governor Joao Doria, who has issued social distancing orders and said he will not comply with Bolsonaro’s latest decree to reopen gyms and beauty salons.
“One man is deciding the future of Sao Paulo,” Bolsonaro said, referring to Doria. “He is deciding the future of Brazil’s economy. With all due respect, you have to call the governor and play tough—play tough—because it’s a serious issue, it is war. Brazil is at stake,” the president said.
Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous state and home to a third of its economic output, has seen hospitals pushed to the limit as it records the worst outbreak in the country.
In Nicaragua, where leftist President Daniel Ortega has faced criticism for not enacting any lockdown measures, the United States on Thursday told American citizens there and their “families to shelter in place.”
“U.S. citizens remaining in Nicaragua must ensure they have an adequate supply of food, water, and medicine to shelter for at least two weeks,” the embassy said in a statement.
Nicaragua has 25 reported cases, but doctors in swamped hospitals have told Reuters the number of cases is significantly higher.