Brazil’s COVID-19 cases pass 5.6 million, death toll at 161,736: ministry

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil reported 22,294 additional confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours, and 630 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The South American country has now registered 5,612,319 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 161,736, according to ministry data, in the world’s most fatal outbreak outside the United States.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Chris Reese)