BUENOS AIRES, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) -- Argentina reported 12,982 new COVID-19 cases in the past 24 hours, taking the national count to 1,002,662, the Health Ministry said on Monday.
Meanwhile, 451 more deaths were reported, bringing the death toll to 26,716, it added.
Currently, 4,392 patients are being hospitalized for the disease in intensive care units, while 803,965 people have recovered, according to the ministry.
Buenos Aires, the largest Argentine province, has so far registered 502,457 infections, the worst among all provinces.
Argentina has become the fifth country in the world and the second in Latin America to hit 1 million cases of COVID-19, after the United States, India, Brazil and Russia, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University.
Argentina was under quarantine by a presidential decree from March 20 to Oct. 11 to curb the spread of the pandemic, with only industrial and business activities permitted. Enditem