Buenos Aires, Jul 16 (IANS): Argentina has declared five days of national mourning for the Covid-19 victims as the country's overall death toll crossed the 1 million mark.

On Thursday, President Alberto Fernandez explained that the declaration is due to the fact that "we reached a number of deaths that deserves our recognition and our tribute", Xinhua news agency reported.

The presidential decree declaring the five-day mourning period stated that there is "immense pain throughout society as a whole for each and every fatal victim".

It added that the pandemic "is a real tragedy that has struck humanity" and that "Argentine society must and wishes to remember and pay tribute to those who have passed away during this painful time".

The government expressed its "most heartfelt condolences" to the families of the deceased, and said that the national flag will fly at half-mast in all public buildings during the five days.

The country's death toll has increased to 100,695, while the infection tally stood at 4,719,952.