This archive report was first published on 20 June 2020.
On June 19, 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) warned of a new and dangerous phase of the coronavirus pandemic, as infections continued to surge in the Americas.
Brazil, which has the second-highest number of infections and deaths after the United States, reported a one-day record of nearly 55,000 new infections, becoming the second country to pass one million cases.
The health ministry said the jump was caused by "instability" in its reporting system, which delayed previous days' figures for some states.
Brazil's death toll now stands at nearly 49,000, and has risen by more than 1,000 each of the past four days -- though its curve finally appears to be starting to flatten.
Colombia and Mexico also passed bleak milestones, as their death tolls topped 2,000 and 20,000, respectively, showing how the virus continues ravaging the Americas and parts of Asia even as Europe starts to ease out of lockdown.
WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual press conference, "The world is in a new and dangerous phase. Many people are understandably fed up with being at home... but the virus is still spreading fast,"
The virus has now killed more than 458,000 people and infected 8.6 million worldwide.
A vaccine remains months off at best despite several trials, and scientists are still making daily discoveries about the virus, its symptoms and the extent to which it may have spread before being identified.
