Coronavirus cases in Chile top 10,000, third highest in Latin America

Chile reported over 10,000 cases of coronavirus on Sunday, the third-highest tally in Latin America, as the disease continues to ravage the economy of the world's top copper producer. Large swaths of Santiago, a city of 6 million, are under lockdown, and virtually all non-essential businesses have been closed for weeks.

Chile recorded its first coronavirus case on March 3 and took 23 days to reach 1,000 cases. It took only 13 more days to reach 5,000 cases on April 7, according to a Reuters tally. Chile has reported a total of 133 deaths, the health ministry said. In Latin America, only Brazil and Peru have more cases.

Stimulus measures to combat the coronavirus pandemic will deepen the nation's fiscal deficit to 8%, the largest gap since at least 1990, the government said on April 17. Chile has already announced a stimulus package of $17 billion, worth more than 5% of gross domestic product. The measures include beefed-up unemployment checks and government-backed credit lines for small businesses.

The coronavirus is only the latest of Chile's economic headaches. Mass protests and riots over inequality that broke out late in 2019 had already ravaged the country´s economy, leaving businesses with billions in losses and hammering growth and investment.