COVID-19 claims over 700 lives in Brazil, Mexico in total

By Sinan Dogan and Gamze Turkoglu Oguz

ANKARA (AA) - Hundreds of more lives have been lost to the novel coronavirus outbreak in Brazil and Mexico, health authorities reported on Monday.

In Brazil, the world’s second worst-hit country after the US, the death toll climbed to 120,828, while the number of cases surged to over 3.86 million, including 16,158 new infections. The number of recoveries exceeded 3 million.

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

Sao Paolo, with a population of 46 million, is the most affected region of the country with 803,404 cases and 29,978 deaths.

- Mexico

The death toll in Mexico hit 64,158 with 339 additions.

The total number of cases in the country rose to 595,841, as 4,129 more people tested positive. As many as 412,580 people have recovered from the disease.

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

- Global fatalities, infections

Since it originated in China last December, the coronavirus has claimed more than 846,400 lives in 188 countries and regions. The US, Brazil, India, and Russia are currently the worst-hit countries.

More than 25.22 million COVID-19 cases have been reported worldwide, with recoveries exceeding 16.61 million, according to figures compiled by the US' Johns Hopkins University.

*Writing by Faruk Zorlu