Uruguay, Paraguay, Argentina get best marks in Latin America for pandemic response: poll

Uruguay, Paraguay and Argentina are the Latin American countries that earned the best grades for their response to the coronavirus, according to a poll conducted in the region and released on Friday, while Brazil was tagged as the worst performer.

The survey by the consulting firm Trespuntozero, to which Reuters had exclusive access, shows that in eight of the 10 countries in which the study was conducted, the respondents - around 10,000 - considered Uruguay one of the best controllers of the pandemic.

According to the poll, the performance of Uruguayan President Luis Lacalle Pou against the pandemic had 77.8% approval in his own country; that of Paraguayan Mario Abdo, 76.7%; and that of Argentina's Alberto Fernández, 68%.

Uruguay registered 947 cases with 28 deaths; Paraguay, 2349 cases with 19 deaths; Argentina, 69,941 cases with 1,385 deaths,; and Brazil, 1,539,081 with 63,174 deaths.

"The countries surveyed were clear on which model not to follow: Brazil," Shila Vilker, director of the Buenos Aires-based consultancy Trespuntozero, told Reuters.

At: https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2020/07/03/world/americas/03reuters-health-coronavirus-latam-poll.html

Pedestrians cross an avenue in Buenos Aires, where, as in much of Argentina, face masks have been mandatory in public for the last two months.

Argentina and its smaller neighbors, Uruguay and Paraguay, have received plaudits from both locals and international observers - with just 2.6% of Latin America's cases between them and 1.2% of its deaths despite having 8.7% of its population.