WHO again urges Brazilian government to take “serious action” to contain COVID-19 pandemic

The Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, was once again “very concerned” on Friday by the epidemiological situation linked to COVID-19 in Brazil, and He called on Jair Bolsonaro’s government to take “serious measures”.

This is the second time in a week that Tedros has warned of the situation in the South American country and the possibility of the virus transcending borders.

“We are very worried, because not only the number of cases is increasing but also the number of deaths”, he declared this Friday during a press conference.

“If no serious action is taken, the current trend (…) will result in more deaths”, he warned and called on the government “to take the situation seriously”.

Some 273,000 people have died from COVID-19 in Brazil, where the far-right president Jair Bolsonaro has repeatedly downplayed the importance of the pandemic and where vaccination started late and slowly due to the lack of available doses.

The Brazilian president has also been criticized by public health specialists to promote drugs that have not been proven to work against the virus, such as hydroxychloroquine.

Brazil surpassed a new 24-hour death record this week, after reporting 2,286 in a single day. To date, 11,277,717 infections and 272,889 deaths have been reported.

“The authorities should send clear messages on the situation and the measures to be taken”, Tedros said.

This situation, if it continues, can spread to neighboring countries, who on the whole are in a better situation than Brazil, warned.

WHO is very concerned about the circulation in Brazil of one of the most contagious variants of the coronavirus, call P.1 and that he appeared in Manaus, in the north of the country.

Exactly seven days ago Tedros criticized the Brazilian government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, whereas in recent weeks the situation in the South American country has deteriorated to the point of registering new death records this week.

At a press conference in Geneva, the head of the organization he called the scenario “very, very disturbing” and warned of the possibility that it transcends its borders. “If Brazil is not serious, it will continue to affect the whole neighborhood (the region) and more,” he said..

On a related note, although extrapolating the warning to the rest of the world, emergency program executive director Mike Ryan spoke at the time. “Now is not the time for Brazil or anyone to relaxHe said, referring to the fact that this week the downward trend in cases around the world – down for six weeks – has reversed.

“The arrival of vaccines is a time of great hope but also a time when we potentially lose our focus,” he added.

With information from AFP

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