Brazil reports over 20,000 new COVID-19 cases

Brazil recorded 21,432 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours as well as 654 new deaths resulting from the disease, the country’s health ministry said on Monday.

According to the ministry, Brazil has registered 1.1 million cases since the pandemic began, while cumulative deaths reached 51,271.

Brazil recorded its highest daily deaths on 4 June; the seven-day average seems to have plateaued since.

Brazil has recently been recording about 1,000 deaths a day, although figures at weekends tend to be lower. Many experts believe the lack of testing nationally - some of them say the level is 20 times less than needed - suggests the overall figures could be considerably higher.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has also recorded the biggest one-day increase in global cases, with most new infections in the Americas.

The WHO says that, of the 183,000 new cases reported globally in 24 hours, more than 60% were from North and South America.