BRASILIA (Reuters) – Latin America and the Caribbean now account for 50% of the COVID-19 cases in the Americas, and the number of registered cases continues to accelerate, the World Health Organization’s regional director Carissa Etienne said on Tuesday.
“This is a pandemic of staggering proportions and we have no option but to continue to put all our energy into controlling it,” she said in a virtual briefing from Washington with Pan American Health Organization directors. Two months ago, the U.S. accounted for 75% of the COVID-19 cases in the Americas, she said, warning that the WHO sees acceleration of cases in several U.S. states, most of Central America and most of South America.
(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)
