RIO DE JANEIRO, February 18. /TASS/. Brazil’s novel coronavirus case tally has risen by 56,766 over the past 24 hours, bringing the total to 9,978,747, according to official statistics published by the country’s Health Ministry on Wednesday.

The number of fatalities over the past 24 hours has increased by 1,150, rising to 242,090. In all, over 8.9 mln patients have recovered, about 790,000 patients remain under medical observation. Per each 100,000 residents there have been 4,748 infections and 115 fatalities.

Over the past week, about 312,000 cases of the infection have been registered (almost 10,000 less than the week before) and 7,520 fatalities.

Brazil, where the first coronavirus case was confirmed on February 26 of last year, ranks third after the United States and India in the list of states with the largest number of infected patients. The country is also ranked second, following the United States, in terms of the highest mortality rate caused by COVID-19.