President Jair Bolsonaro has threatened to pull Brazil out of the World Health Organisation after the UN agency warned Latin American governments about the risk of lifting lockdowns before slowing the spread of the novel coronavirus throughout the region.

In an editorial running the length of newspaper Folha de S.Paulo’s front page, the Brazilian daily highlighted that just 100 days had passed since Bolsonaro described the virus now “killing a Brazilian per minute” as “a little flu.”

Brazil’s Health Ministry reported that confirmed cases in the country had climbed past 600,000 and 1,437 deaths had been registered within 24 hours, the third consecutive daily record.

Reuters quoted Bolsonaro as saying that Brazil will consider leaving the WHO unless it ceases to be a “partisan political organisation”.