A woman uses hand sanitizer
A woman uses hand sanitizer as she attends to cast her vote at a school during the municipal elections in Rio de Janeiro, on November 29, 2020. Image Credit: REUTERS

Geneva: The World Health Organization chief voiced deep concern Monday over a sharp increase in COVID-19 cases and deaths in Brazil in recent weeks.

"I think Brazil has to be very, very serious," WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told reporters, after fresh cases in the country jumped from around 10,000 per day in early November to more than 50,000, and as the daily death rate shot up nearly ninefold in a week.

The situation, he said, "is very, very worrisome."