Argentina's coronavirus death toll leaps above 20,000 as new data added

FILE PHOTO: A cemetery worker wearing protective equipment digs a new grave at the Flores cemetery, amid the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Buenos Aires, Argentina August 13, 2020. REUTERS/Agustin Marcarian/File Photo

BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) - Argentina's coronavirus death toll leapt above 20,000 on Thursday as a large number of previously untallied fatalities were added to the total, emphasizing how the country has gone from regional role model to one of the worst-hit in the world.

The South American nation, which slowed the spread of the virus with a strict lockdown in March, reported 14,001 new COVID-19 cases to take the total confirmed infections to 765,002, one of the 10 highest in the world.