RIO DE JANEIRO, June 1. /TASS/. The number of COVID-19 cases in Brazil has exceeded 500,000, according to official statistics published on Sunday.

In the past day, 16,409 new cases were recorded, taking the total number to 514,849. The death toll from the disease caused by the novel coronavirus rose by 480 to 29,314. More than 206,500 patients have recovered, the Health Ministry said.

On Sunday, the Health Ministry reported about 33,274 new coronavirus cases and the daily growth has been setting records for the third day in a row.

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 110,000 infection cases and more than 7,600 fatalities. Massive outbreaks were also reported in Rio de Janeiro (over 53,300 cases) and the northeastern region of Seara (nearly 48,500 cases). The death toll in these two states reached 5,344 and 3,010.

Other worst-affected regions are the northeastern states of Pernambuco (over 34,400 cases and 2,807 deaths) and Maranhao (over 34,600 cases and 955 deaths), as well as Amazonas (over 41,300 cases and 2,052 deaths) and Para (nearly 38,000 cases and 2,923 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.

More than 6 mln people have contracted the coronavirus worldwide and nearly 367,000 have died.