The Ministry of Health said Brazil had registered a record 100,158 new cases of coronavirus in 24 hours, highlighting the scale of the rapidly growing outbreak, which is becoming a serious political crisis for President Jair Bolsonar.
A record number of cases, as well as another 2,777 deaths from Covid-19, came the day after 300,000 people died in Brazil as a result of the pandemic, the largest death toll in the world since the United States.
Critics, including high-ranking lawmakers linked to the president, have increasingly accused Bolsonar of failing to cope with the pandemic. He has been sharply criticized for his efforts to block bans, neglect masks and sow doubts about vaccines.