GENEVA: The coronavirus pandemic has passed grim milestones as Brazil confirmed one million infections and Europe chalked up more than 2.5 million Saturday as the World Health Organization warned of a "new and dangerous phase".

Death tolls in Colombia and Mexico also made grim reading -- passing 2,000 and 20,000, respectively -- as the virus tightened its grip in the Americas.

Although the spread has slowed in Europe, it is still the worst-affected continent -- almost half of its 2.5 million cases being registered in Russia, Britain, Spain and Italy, according to an AFP tally on Saturday.

The continent is easing its way out of strict lockdowns that have caused crippling economic damage, but the WHO warned against giving in to isolation fatigue.

The virus has now killed more than 458,000 people and infected 8.6 million worldwide.

A vaccine remains months off at best despite several trials, and scientists are still making daily discoveries about the virus, its symptoms and the extent to which it may have spread before being identified.