The coronavirus crisis in Brazil appears to be levelling off, if not easing, the World Health Organisation has said, offering a chink of light for the world’s second biggest Covid-19 hot spot.

The number of weekly infections detected have stabilised, transmissions are slowing, and intensive care units are under less pressure, Mike Ryan, WHO’s top emergency expert, told a news conference in Geneva.

“In general, the trend in Brazil is stable or downwards [...] and that needs to keep going,” Ryan said.

According to Reuters, the latest figures show that Brazil has recorded more than 3.5 million cases of the new coronavirus and more than 112,000 deaths related to the virus. Both are the second highest totals in the world, behind only the United States.