Workers from the Nova Iguacu cemetery in Brazil carry the coffin of a deceased by coronavirus.Silvia Izquierdo / AP
The evolution of covid-19 in Mexico and Brazil has put the WHO on alert, which has urged both countries to take the pandemic "very seriously."
The head of the health organization, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, has drawn attention to the rapid progression of infections.
Regarding Brazil, he said that the situation is "very disturbing" and considers that they should take it into account.
Brazil has just passed its municipal elections and restrictive health measures have been increased.
The same recommendation has been issued by the WHO for Mexico, a country that already has 105,655 deaths and more than 40,000 active cases.
The organization believes it is in a "bad position" given the figures it presents.
"The number of cases has doubled and so has the number of deaths," said Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
"We want to ask Mexico to take it very seriously," he said.
Indeed, when hospitals in some Mexican states support an increase in income similar to peaks in previous months, a large part of the population continues to celebrate parties and go to work without the necessary sanitary measures.
The country is torn between contagions and the collapse of the economy and the population, as in other parts of the world, it is already showing rebellious fatigue.
Mexico exceeded 100,000 deaths on November 20 and also, according to WHO information, has exceeded 12,000 cases of infected per day for the first time.
The number of cases has increased in this country by 30% the week of November 23 to 28, according to its official figures.
Data from Johns Hopkins University also place Brazil in a difficult position.
With its 212 million inhabitants, it is the second in the world most affected by the pandemic, with more than 170,000 deaths, after the United States.
The WHO director general said Brazil had managed to reduce the number of cases by almost two-thirds from the peak reached in July, with 114,000 cases in the week of November 2.
But "during the week of November 26, we are again at 218,000 cases per week," he said.
"If you take the death toll for the week of November 2, it was 2,538, but now we count 3,876."
The president, Jair Bolsonaro, has been one of the leaders who has most minimized the consequences of the pandemic and last week said that he will not be vaccinated.
He already beat the disease in July.
Nor has it been prone to the closure of economic activities.
Both countries are very populous and their figures are equally scandalous, but the WHO reports upturns that it considers worrying and urges the authorities to take action accordingly.
Mexico City, the most affected and one of the most populous centers of the pandemic in the country, increasingly increases health measures and epidemic containment in a desperate balance to combat the health crisis without affecting an economy that is already very hurt.
The capital continues to increase the number of random tests and the whole country is making calculations about a future vaccination campaign.