Brazil, Mexico report hundreds more virus fatalities

By Emre Aytekin

ANKARA (AA) - Brazil reported 739 more fatalities from the novel coronavirus, while Mexico saw 455 over the past 24 hours, health authorities said late Saturday.

In Brazil, the third worst-hit country in the world after India in terms of cases, the death toll reached 136,532, while confirmed cases to date surpassed 4.52 million with 33,057 new infections, according to the Brazilian Health Ministry.

More than 3.93 million people have so far recovered from the virus in the Latin American country.

With a population of over 211 million, Brazil is seen as the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the Latin America region.

Brazil's vibrant financial hub of Sao Paolo, with a population of nearly 46 million, is the country's most-affected region.

- Mexico

Mexico's Health Ministry reported 73,258 virus-related deaths, with 455 additions over the past day.

With health authorities registering 5,167 more positive tests, total cases in the country rose to 694,121.

As many as 586,154 people have recovered from the disease so far, according to official numbers.

The first infection in Mexico was registered on Feb. 28 and the first fatality on March 19.

Mexico is among the top 10 countries with the highest number of pandemic cases reported.

Across the world, coronavirus has claimed more than 957,600 lives in 188 countries and regions since last December.

Over 30 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 21 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.