COVID-19 cases hit 5.9 million in Americas, half in Latin America, Caribbean - WHO

FILE PHOTO: A man walks next to a graffiti depciting a cleaner wearing protective gear spraying viruses with the face of Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, June 12, 2020. REUTERS/Sergio Moraes

BRASILIA (Reuters) - Latin America and the Caribbean now account for 50% of the COVID-19 cases in the Americas, and the number of registered cases continues to accelerate, the World Health Organization's regional director Carissa Etienne said on Tuesday.

"This is a pandemic of staggering proportions and we have no option but to continue to put all our energy into controlling it," she said in a virtual briefing from Washington with Pan American Health Organization directors.