The number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection in Brazil grew by 38,693 in the past day to 1,313,667, according to official statistics published by the country’s health ministry late on Saturday, Trend reports citing TASS.
In line with the updated figures, record 246,088 new cases of the infection were detected in the country in the past week. That indicator, which was relatively stable in two weeks at the beginning of June, resumed growth in the middle of the month.
Meanwhile, the coronavirus death toll dropped to 7,094 compared with the previous week (7,526). As many as 1,109 deaths were registered in the past 24 hours. The total death toll has reached 57,070 people, while the number of recoveries has exceeded 715,000.
The southeastern state of Sao Paulo and its eponymous capital remain the epicenter of the coronavirus infection spread in the country. The region has reported 265,518 infection cases and 14,263 fatalities. Shortly after the authorities announced a gradual removal of coronavirus-related restrictions in early June, the number of new cases started to grow, due to which the regional administration was forced to once again toughen anti-coronavirus measures in almost all regions of the state except its capital and nearest suburbs.
The neighboring Rio de Janeiro is the second region in Brazil in terms of the number of confirmed coronavirus cases (108,803), while its death toll is 9,789 people. Third comes the northeastern state of Seara, with 106,628 confirmed cases, more than 80,000 recoveries and 5,981 deaths.
Statistics on infection cases and fatalities also remains high in the north of the country. The northern states of Para (100,443 cases and 4,845 deaths) and Amazonas (69,092 cases and 2,772 deaths) are the hardest-hit areas of the region.
In the northeastern state of Pernambuco, the growth slowed after a tough quarantine was imposed, though last week the number of cases was again on the rise after the measures were relaxed, reaching 57,089 (death toll is 4,708). A large number of cases was reported in the state of Maranhao (78,115), where coronavirus claimed 1,943 lives.