RIO DE JANEIRO, June 3. /TASS/. The number of fatalities caused by the coronavirus in Brazil has surpassed 30,000, according to official statistics published on Tuesday.
In the past day, a record high number of 1,262 deaths from the coronavirus was recorded in the country, taking the total death toll to 31,199, according to the Health Ministry’s website. The causes of another 4,300 deaths, which could be related to the infection, are being verified.
Since the last publication of statistics, the number of new cases of infection in the country rose by 28,936 to 555,383. More than 223,000 patients have recovered, the Health Ministry said.
The state of Sao Paulo remains the epicenter of the outbreak in the country, including its eponymous capital, home to more than 21 million people. The region has nearly 118,000 infection cases and nearly 8,000 fatalities. Massive outbreaks were also reported in Rio de Janeiro (over 56,700 cases) and the northeastern region of Seara (over 53,000 cases). The death toll in these two states reached 5,686 and 3,421.
Other worst-affected regions are the northeastern states of Pernambuco (over 35,500 cases and 2,933 deaths) and Maranhao (over 36,600 cases and 997 deaths), as well as Amazonas (nearly 43,200 cases and 2,102 deaths) and Para (over 41,000 cases and 3,040 deaths) in the country’s north.
Brazil, where the first coronavirus case was confirmed on February 26, is ranked second after the United States for the number of COVID-19 cases. The South American country is in the fourth place after the United States, the United Kingdom and Italy for the number of fatalities from the coronavirus. The Health Ministry predicts that the situation would stabilize by July and in August the infection spread would begin to slow, and the cases would decline in September.