WHO says Brazil has “long way to go” before beating pandemic

According to World Health Organization’s Executive Director Michael Ryan, the pandemic in Brazil is still “very concerning” and the road ahead is still long, requiring a lot of “commitment” from Brazilian authorities. Over the past two months, Brazil has more than doubled its new confirmed case figures, going from 283,755 to 635,288 since June 3 — a 123-percent increase. New death tallies over the past two months have also surpassed April and May’s death totals by 1,388, despite the country initially reaching a plateau in new deaths and confirmed cases.

Mr. Ryan suggested that state and federal authorities need to improve the coordination of their efforts to test, trace and isolate Covid-19 patients. So far, the country has the third highest rate of Covid-19 cases per 100,000 inhabitants at 330.1, ahead of even the U.S. (271.9), considered by many to be the worlds’ Covid-19 hotspot.

Brazil’s figures for new confirmed cases have also risen by 25 percent since July 3 according to the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) — hinting at a possible second wave of Covid-19 cases in the country.

According to WHO’s Technical Leader Maria Van Kerkhove, Brazil has many resources that makes it capable of tackling the Covid-19 health crisis. Yet, it needs to not only inform its population but engage them toward following social distancing measures.

As recently covered by The Brazilian Report, over half of Brazilians did not follow isolation guidelines even during the peak of social distancing guidelines adopted by state authorities in April and May.

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