Brazil's coronavirus outbreak worsens as total cases near 500,000

Brasilia, May 31

Brazil registered a record 33,274 new cases of the novel coronavirus on Saturday, its health ministry said, raising the total to 498,440 in a country with one of the world’s worst outbreaks.

The death toll in Brazil from COVID-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, increased to 28,834, with 956 new deaths in the last 24 hours, the ministry said.

Latin America hit a grim milestone on Saturday as coronavirus deaths topped 50,000 and cases neared 1 million, with countries such as Brazil, Chile, Mexico and Peru struggling to stem the tide, according to a Reuters tally.

Coronavirus deaths in Latin America totaled 50,105 and cases stood at 976,425.

Russia says coronavirus infections pass 400,000

Russia on Sunday reported 9,268 new cases of the novel coronavirus, raising the national tally to 405,843.

Officials said 138 people had died of COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the coronavirus, in the last 24 hours, pushing to nationwide toll up to 4,693.

Worldwide cases cross 6 million, death toll over 367,000

More than 6.04 million people have been reported infected with the novel coronavirus globally and 367,902 have died, a Reuters tally shows. Infections have been reported in more than 210 countries and territories since the first cases were identified in China in December 2019. — Reuters