The World Health Organisation sent out a fresh warning yesterday over the dangers of the new coronavirus as cases continued to soar in Latin America with Brazil now registering over 50,000 deaths.
“The pandemic is still accelerating,” WHO’s director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
“We know that the pandemic is much more than a health crisis, it is an economic crisis, a social crisis and in many countries a political crisis. Its effects will be felt for decades to come.”
Tedros said the greatest threat facing the world is not the virus itself, which has now killed over 465,000 people and infected nearly 9mn worldwide, but “the lack of global solidarity and global leadership”.
“We cannot defeat this pandemic with a divided world,” he said. “The politicisation of the pandemic has exacerbated it.”
Brazil is the second worst-affected country behind the US. The decision by Brazil’s far-right President Jair Bolsonaro to oppose lockdowns and focus on the economy has been hugely divisive.
Two health ministers - both doctors - have left their posts as deaths and infections have surged. The first was sacked by Bolsonaro, the second resigned after disagreeing with the president.
Bolsonaro has openly disagreed with advice from his own health ministry, arguing that the economic impact of lockdowns would be more detrimental than the health impact of the virus itself, and he retains strong backing from his supporters.
Some states and cities have adopted their own measures. After months of restrictions, some are slowly being lifted, even though infection levels remain high.
There is still concern that the health system will be unable to cope in some places, and that the disease is spreading faster in deprived neighbourhoods and remote areas, such as indigenous communities, where access to adequate care is difficult
Brazil has recently been recording about 1,000 deaths a day, although figures at weekends tend to be lower. Many experts believe the lack of testing nationally - some of them say the level is 20 times less than needed - suggests the overall figures could be considerably higher.
The northern states of Amazonas, ParA and Ceara have seen more than 12,000 deaths in total, but it is Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro that have seen the biggest spikes, now standing at 12,500 and 8,800 fatalities respectively.
Despite the threat of the virus, thousands of supporters and opponents of Bolsonaro took to the streets in rival demonstrations on Sunday.
Regionally, the WHO says that, of the 183,000 new cases reported globally in 24 hours, more than 60% were from North and South America.
The spread of Covid-19 is accelerating across Latin America, with Mexico, Peru and Chile also hard-hit as death tolls soar and healthcare facilities are pushed toward collapse.
Mexico City has delayed reopening markets, restaurants, malls, hotels and places of worship, with the country now recording over 20,000 Covid-19 deaths.
Highlighting the region’s woes, Peru passed 8,000 deaths on Sunday. Shopping malls opened across the country yesterday.