The global scale of the coronavirus pandemic is accelerating, the World Health Organization has said, pointing out that June saw more than half of all cases reported since the start of the pandemic.
"For the past week, the number of the new cases has exceeded 160,000 on every single day," WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a virtual briefing.
He added that "60% of all cases so far have been reported just in the past month".
With over 511,000 deaths and more than 10.5 million known infections worldwide, the pandemic is "not even close to being over", the WHO warned earlier this week.
Dr Tedros reiterated that taking a "comprehensive approach" was the best way to rein in the virus.
Countries that have implemented a wide range of measures, including contact tracing, isolation, physical distancing and mask wearing "have suppressed transmission and saved lives", he said.
The United Nations health agency was therefore very concerned, he added, to see that a number of countries "have not used all the tools at their disposal and have taken a fragmented approach.
"These countries face a long, hard road ahead," he said.
Dr Tedros stressed that while the pandemic posed a scientific challenge, "it's also a test of character".
Americas paying 'highest price' for 'divisive' virus response - Red Cross
The Red Cross has criticised the politicisation of the pandemic in many countries, warning that the "divisive" response by leaders in places such as Brazil and the United States is taking a heavy toll.
Francesco Rocca, president of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), warned that in the Americas especially, the consequences of mixed and partisan messages from politicians, often contradicting scientific advice on how to deal with Covid-19, were dire.
"America as a continent is paying the highest price for this kind of division or not following the advice coming from the scientific community," he told a virtual briefing hosted by the UN correspondents' association in Geneva.
The US is the worst-hit country, accounting for a quarter of global cases and deaths, followed by Brazil, which counts nearly 60,000 deaths from more than 1.4 million cases.
Peru, Chile and Mexico are also facing surging numbers in the pandemic, Mr Rocca said.
The Pan American Health Organization, meanwhile, has warned the coronavirus death toll in Latin America and the Caribbean could top 400,000 by October without stricter public health measures.
That would represent a quadrupling of the fatal cases of Covid-19, in a region that has emerged as a major pandemic trouble spot.
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Mr Rocca said Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro "underestimated the consequences of Covid, and his country is living the consequences".
Mr Bolsonaro has regularly broken the social distancing measures in place in the capital, giving handshakes and hugs at rallies, hosting barbecues, hitting the shooting range and going out for hot dogs, generally without a mask.
The president, who famously compared the virus to a "little flu," has railed against the measures state and local authorities are taking to fight it, arguing that business closures and stay-at-home measures are needlessly wrecking the economy.
Brazil was not the only country debating whether economic interests outweigh people's health and lives, but the rhetoric there "has been more divisive, concerning," Mr Rocca said.
"And now the results are there before the eyes of the entire world."
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Mr Rocca was also asked about US President Donald Trump's widely-criticised handling of the crisis in his country, and in particular his refusal to wear a mask.
"If the scientific community is saying that it is important to avoid to shake hands, and to wear masks, I think that the leaders should follow and listen," he said.
But the IFRC president said that a number of leaders, "not only in Brazil and the US ... have been irresponsible," pointing out that "even the virus has been politicised, and this is ridiculous".
"Politicians should learn to speak with one voice. Politicians should start learning to follow the advice coming from the scientific community."
Order for Brazil's Bolsonaro to wear face mask dismissed
A judge in Brazil has dismissed a court ruling requiring President Jair Bolsonaro to wear a face mask in public during the Covid-19 pandemic.
The judge said the order was unnecessary since face masks are already mandatory in the capital Brasilia.
The judge, however, did not say whether the far-right president should or should not wear a mask, simply that the specific order concerning the president was redundant.
In his appeal, Mr Bolsonaro simply asked to be treated as any other resident of the country's federal capital, where mask use has been mandatory since April.
Breaking the rule can result in a fine and so far, the president has not been fined for failing to wear a mask.
However, since the first ruling on 22 June, Mr Bolsonaro has worn a mask at all public appearances.
