Coronavirus cases soar in big countries, especially Brazil, WHO says

1,000 deaths a day

Latin America’s largest country has frequently recorded more than 1,000 deaths a day over the last month.

President Jair Bolsonaro, sometimes called the “Tropical Trump”, has been widely criticised for his handling of the crisis. The country still has no permanent health minister after losing two since April, following clashes with the president.

Bolsonaro has shunned social distancing, calling it a job-killing measure more dangerous than the virus itself. He has also promoted two anti-malarial drugs - chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine - as remedies, despite a lack of evidence that they work.

Ryan said he thought there had been “great upticks” in cases in a number of U.S. states.

“I’m not 100 percent sure about the age profile, but I’ve seen the reports that some of this is amongst younger people. That may reflect the fact that younger people are more mobile and they are getting out and taking advantage of the reductions in restrictions of movement ...

“What is clear is that the increase is not entirely explained through just increased testing.”

The WHO also said it was worried about Germany, where the reproduction rate of the virus hit 2.88 on Sunday, well above the maximum level of one transmission per person needed to contain the disease over the longer term.

Tedros said a lack of global leadership and unity in fighting the virus was a bigger threat than the outbreak itself, and that politicisation had made the pandemic worse.

The WHO has been criticised by some member states, especially the United States, which says it was too weak, too slow and too “China-centric” in tackling the disease at the outset.