RIO DE JANEIRO, May 20 — The death toll from the novel coronavirus disease in Brazil has risen by a record 1,179 people over the past 24 hours to 17,971, the country's Health Ministry said.
According to Sputnik news agency, the ministry said 17,408 new Covid-19 cases had been recorded within the past day, bringing the total number of cases to 271,628.
The previous record for the number of deaths from coronavirus was registered on May 12, when 881 people died.
The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak of the new coronavirus a pandemic on March 11.
According to the WHO, the global coronavirus death toll has surpassed 316,000 people, with the number of cases worldwide exceeding 4.7 million.
— Bernama
