Argentina posts daily record COVID-19 cases as second wave hits

Argentina posted a record daily 20,870 cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as a second wave of infections hits the South American country that has eased open its battered economy in recent months after a tough lockdown last year.

Argentina posted a record daily 20,870 cases of COVID-19 on Tuesday as a second wave of infections hits the South American country that has eased open its battered economy in recent months after a tough lockdown last year. The daily record, taking total infections to around 2.43 million, comes as cases have risen sharply over the last month and after President Alberto Fernandez said he was infected with the virus on Saturday, though he remains without symptoms.

There have been 56,634 deaths from the virus in the country since the start of the pandemic, with 163 in the most recent 24-hour period. Fernandez, who was vaccinated with Russia's Sputnik V earlier this year, urged his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to speed up delivery of vaccines to the country in a call after his infection to rev up Argentina's stalled inoculation program.