JAKARTA - Positive cases of COVID-19 in Brazil have seen a significant increase after a number of new infections were revealed on Friday. Brazil has now overtaken Spain as the country with the fourth highest number of coronavirus patients in the world.
Launching The Strais Times on Sunday, May 17, the country added 14,919 cases, according to government data on Saturday, bringing the total to 233,142. This means that this number is trailing the US, Russia and Britain.
With the number exceeding those in Spain, 230,698 cases in total, they plan to extend the state of emergency for a fifth time to combat the outbreak.
The new Brazil cases come when Vice President Hamilton Mourao and his wife are in self-quarantine. At that time, a civil servant he contacted tested positive for COVID-19, according to a note sent by his press office. They are awaiting test results, which are expected to come out on Monday.
The country reports a diary of cases on Friday - hours after President Jair Bolsonaro lost his second health minister in less than a month.
Nelson Teich, who took over the post in April - after Bolsonaro fired his predecessor amid public disputes over social distancing - quit on Friday after only working 29 days. The health ministry did not provide details on who would replace him.
Brazil reported a record 15,305 new cases on Friday, cementing its status as a new global hotspot for the disease. Still, the death toll is lower than that of Spain and other hard-hit countries.
Brazil lost 816 COVID-19 patients in the past 24 hours, raising the total death toll to 15,633. This is nearly half of the deaths in Spain, France and Italy.
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