The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed over 390 000 people in the Americas, is threatening regional plans to eliminate and control infectious diseases including tuberculosis, HIV, hepatitis and others, WHO Regional Director for the Americas, Dr Carissa F. Etienne said yesterday. 

Nearly 20 million cases of COVID-19 have now been recorded. WHO Director-General Dr Tedros stressed that behind these statistics there is a great deal of pain and suffering. He emphasized that ‘There are two essential elements to addressing the pandemic effectively. Leaders must step up to take action and citizens need to embrace new measures…My message is crystalclear: suppress, suppress, suppress the virus’.