Brazil’s Ministry of Health reported 80,508 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday, the country’s biggest daily increase in new infections since January 7.
The sad news comes after a week in which the country also recorded its highest number of daily deaths. On Wednesday, Brazil recorded 1,910 deaths, according to the Ministry of Health – the highest number since the outbreak began.
The daily death toll reported on Sunday was 1,086, the ministry of health announced. Since the beginning of the epidemic, Brazil has confirmed a total of 11,019,344 cases of the virus.
Public and private intensive care units are close to or reaching capacity across the country, with a third on the verge of collapse with more than 90% capacity, according to federal and state data.
Brazil’s largest state, São Paulo, entered a “red phase” of two weeks of coronavirus restrictions at midnight on Saturday, meaning that all businesses, except the essentials, would remain closed during the period.