Soccer-Copa America registers another 11 positive COVID-19 tests

BRASILIA (Reuters) - The number of COVID-19 cases recorded among people involved in the Copa America rose to 52 on Tuesday, an increase of 11 on two days previously, Brazil’s Health Ministry said.

Two of the new cases were players or officials embedded with the competing teams, the ministry said.

It did not reveal any more details or say which of the 10 competing South America nations were affected.

In total 33 players or officials from Venezuela, Colombia and Bolivia have tested positive since Sunday, the day the soccer tournament kicked off in four Brazilian cities.

Another 19 were employees working at hotels in Brasilia and Rio de Janeiro where the delegations are staying.

Brazil assumed responsibility for hosting the Copa America, South America’s equivalent of the European Championship, on May 31, less than two weeks before the tournament kicked off.

It did so after Argentina pulled out due to a COVID-19 surge there and in spite of the wave of infections still rolling across Brazil.

Another 2,468 people died from the virus in Brazil on Tuesday, the Health Ministry said, bringing the overall death toll to 490,696, more than any country apart from the United States.

(Reporting by Ricardo Brito, writing by Andrew Downie; Editing by Ken Ferris)