Aerial view showing graves in the Nossa Senhora Aparecida cemetery in Manaus on June 21, 2020. - The novel coronavirus has killed at least 464,423 people worldwide since the outbreak began in China last December, being Brazil Latin America's worsthit country with 49,976 deaths from 1,067,579 cases. (Photo by MICHAEL DANTAS / AFP) (Photo by MICHAEL DANTAS/AFP via Getty Images)
Brazil surpassed 1.8 million confirmed cases of novel coronavirus Friday, according to the country’s health ministry.
The ministry recorded 45,048 new cases in the previous 24 hours — bringing the country’s total to 1,800,827.
Brazil also reached 70,000 Covid-19 deaths after another 1,214 related fatalities Friday. The nationwide toll now stands at 70,398.
President Jair Bolsonaro — in semi-isolation after testing positive for the virus this week — said he hoped the country’s governors and mayors would reopen “as soon as possible” and “in a responsible way.”
