[hajile]

The majority of people in South America are partially or mostly of American Indian descent. It's been generally known for a long time that American Indians are hit harder by the flu. Some research papers on covid seem to indicate a similar trend. As such, it may not be so surprising to see worse numbers in a continent of people genetically susceptible to the disease.

Africa is also pretty easy. Median age in Africa is 19.7. Median age in Europe is 42.5. Median age in the US is 37.9. We know that young people are very unlikely to die from covid, so a place that skews so young would have fewer deaths.

Likewise, given the large number of much more lethal diseases in Africa combined with young age and poor medical facilities, people with preexisting conditions are much less common and are much more likely to be killed by other, more lethal diseases.