Coronavirus

WHO warns Covid-19 is yet to peak in Latin America

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General for Emergency Michael Ryan cautioned that, despite the latest figures, Latin America is still yet to hit its peak of Covid-19 contagions.

World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General for Emergency Michael Ryan cautioned that, despite the latest figures, Latin America is still yet to hit its peak of Covid-19 contagions.

Dr. Ryan expects a peak in Covid-19 cases to hit the region soon, which will likely result “in a sustained number of cases and continued deaths in the coming weeks.” When asked specifically about when Brazil would likely reach its peak of Covid-19 cases, he explained that “the peak has an awful lot to do” with government actions, as isolation and testing measures can still impact the height, duration and downward trajectory of each country’s coronavirus infection curve.

According to the WHO, many countries in the Americas are still showing a steady rise in new cases — with increases of between 25 and 50 percent each week — which suggests that these countries still have sustained community transmission.

In Brazil, the number of new confirmed cases grew by 25 percent over the past week, while death figures rose 17 percent over the same period. In comparison, in the U.S. — the only country ahead of Brazil in total infections and deaths — the total number of cases grew by 9 percent and deaths by 3.7 percent over the past week.

As recently covered by The Brazilian Report, the state of São Paulo, which has the highest total tallies in the country, registered record-breaking figures in both Covid-19 cases and deaths this week, following what seems to be a premature reopening of non-essential businesses earlier this month.

Real numbers could be much worse, as the São Paulo City Hall believes the city alone might have around 1.2 million cases, which, if true, would match Brazil’s total number of confirmed cases nationwide.

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