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| - Peru announced Wednesday it will resume international flights and reopen its borders to a limited group of countries from October 1, after months of coronavirus lockdowns. "We'll start with a limited number of flights" to the United States, Mexico, Spain and Chile, said Transport and Communications Minister Carlos Estremadoyro. The government is still evaluating whether or not Brazil, the Latin American country worst affected by the coronavirus, will be included. All passengers will be required to take a Covid-19 test before boarding a flight as part of a slew of health protocols. Two weeks ago, the government had said it would allow the resumption of international flights once the number of new virus cases fell. Peru recorded a new spike in mid-August, but both cases and deaths have been decreasing for the last three weeks. There have been 660,000 cases and 29,000 deaths from Covid-19 in Peru, a country of 33 million people. Peru has registered the second largest number of cases and third most deaths in Latin America. Only the tiny republic of San Marino has a higher death rate than Peru's 90.5 per 100,000 inhabitants, according to a ranking provided by Johns Hopkins University. Peru's borders have been closed and flights grounded since mid-March when the government announced a health emergency. The border closure has badly hit Peru's vital tourism industry. The iconic Inca citadel of Machu Picchu is one of the most visited sites in Latin America. ljc/fj/bc/sst
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