GENEVA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 01st June, 2020) The South and Central American regions have still not reached the COVID-19 transmission peak, Michael Ryan, the executive director of the WHO health emergencies program, said on Monday.
"Five of the ten countries worldwide reporting the highest number of cases of the past 24 hours are in the Americas - Brazil, the USA, Peru, Chile, and Mexico ... I would certainly characterize Central and South America, in particular, have very much become the intense zones of transmission for this virus, as we speak. And I don't believe we've reached the peak in that transmission and at this point, I cannot predict when we will," Ryan told a virtual briefing.
The WHO official noted that the organization had been seeing a progressive increase in cases on a daily basis in the region, as health systems were beginning to come under pressure across the region. Ryan added that the agency particularly concerned about Haiti, given its health system's vulnerability.
"I think we now absolutely need to focus on supporting particularly Central and South America in their response," he added.
According to the WHO Pan American Health Organization, the Americas have 2,840,714, with the death toll of 161,428.
