By Sofia Menchu
GUATEMALA CITY (Reuters) – The Guatemalan government declared on Tuesday a “state of prevention” for the entire country, limiting outdoor meetings and public demonstrations, after a dramatic spike in the number of COVID-19 cases last week.
Mass events were suspended for several months during the start of the epidemic to avoid crowds, but restrictions had eased since September as the impoverished Central American nation began to reopen its economy.
Guatemala reported 3,000 new infections of COVID-19 last Thursday, its highest number of infections in a single day.
So far, Guatemala has recorded 322,120 cases and 9,756 deaths. Only 5.1% of its population has received at least one dose of the vaccines that are available in the country.
(Reporting by Sofia Menchu in Guatemala City; Writing by Stefanie Eschenbacher; editing by Richard Pullin)
