COVID-19: Brazil tops 250 thousand confirmed cases

The Brazilian Health Ministry’s daily report for Monday (May 18) registers 13,140 new confirmed cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 254,220. It was the highest amount counted in 24 hours since the beginning of the pandemic in the country. The result marks a 5.4 percent increase from Sunday (17), when the number of infected people stood at 241,080.

Brazil had 674 new deaths reported from Sunday to Monday, adding up to 16,792—up 4.2 percent from last Sunday’s 16,118. The lethality rate (the number of deaths divided by the number of confirmed cases) stood at 6.6 percent, and mortality (deaths by population) was 7.9 percent.

Of the total number of confirmed cases, 136,969 (54%) are being monitored, and 100,459 (39.5%) have recovered; 2,277 obits are being investigated.

São Paulo is still the epicenter of the disease in the country, with the highest number of deaths (4,823), followed by Rio de Janeiro (2,852), Ceará (1,748), Pernambuco (1,640), and Amazonas (1,433).

Deaths have also been reported in Pará (1,329), Maranhão (576), Bahia (312), Espírito Santo (302), Alagoas (221), Paraíba (207), Minas Gerais (161), Rio Grande do Norte (146), Rio Grande do Sul (144), Paraná (127), Amapá (127), Santa Catarina (85), Piauí (80), Rondônia (77), Goiás (73), Acre (67), the Federal District (66), Roraima (60), Sergipe (59), Tocantins (32), Mato Grosso (29), and Mato Grosso do Sul (16).

Considering the number of confirmed cases, São Paulo ranks first (63,066). Next come Rio de Janeiro (26,665), Ceará (26,363), Amazonas (20,913), and Pernambuco (20,094). Among the states with the largest number of infected people are also Pará (14,734), Maranhão (13,238), Bahia (8,581), Espírito Santo (7,157), and Santa Catarina (5,175).