RIO DE JANEIRO, May 18. /TASS/: The number of coronavirus cases in Brazil has risen by nearly 8,000 to 241,080, according to updated data from the country’s Health Ministry.
As many as 94,122 patients have recovered, another 130,840 remain under medical observation. The death toll has risen by 485 to 16,118. Efforts are underway to determine the causes of another 2,450 deaths, which may be related to the coronavirus.
Brazil has the highest number of COVID-19 cases and deaths in Latin America. The country confirmed its first COVID-19 case on February 26. On May 12, the Health Ministry said that 39 positive tests of patients with symptoms typical of the coronavirus had been carried out in January. The ministry is trying to verify the information. Meanwhile, authorities in Brazil’s Ceara state have found out that the region’s first patient with coronavirus symptoms sought medical assistance on January 1.
The country’s Health Ministry said earlier that the situation was likely to stabilize by July, and the infection rate would begin to fall in August.
Coronavirus pandemic
In late December 2019, Chinese officials notified the World Health Organization (WHO) about the outbreak of a previously unknown pneumonia in the city of Wuhan, in central China. Since then, cases of the novel coronavirus - named COVID-19 by the WHO - have been reported in every corner of the globe, including Russia. On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
