RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil reported 1,039 deaths in 24 hours from the Covid-19 coronavirus on Tuesday, the fourth time its daily toll has passed 1,000 since the pandemic accelerated in the country a week ago.
Latin America's largest country, a new epicentre in the pandemic, has now confirmed a total of 24,512 deaths, according to health ministry figures.
Experts say under-testing means the real number is probably much higher.
With a population of 210 million people, Brazil has recorded 391,222 infections, a number second only to the United States.
The country is torn over how to respond to the pandemic.
Far-right President Jair Bolsonaro has downplayed the virus and railed against stay-at-home measures, arguing the economic fallout risks causing more damage than the virus itself.
But most state governments have stuck to the World Health Organisation's guidance and closed non-essential businesses.
Bolsonaro has meanwhile pinned his hopes on the medication hydroxychloroquine, that – like US President Donald Trump – he has touted as a potential wonder drug against Covid-19.
Brazil's health ministry recommends doctors in the public health system prescribe hydroxychloroquine or a related drug, chloroquine, from the onset of Covid-19 symptoms.
It said on Monday it stood by that guideline, despite the WHO ending clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine over concerns about its safety and effectiveness against the coronavirus. - AFP