Brazil adds over 1,200 deaths from COVID-19

A woman wearing a face mask walks past a billboard reading "Use face mask, protect yourself and others" in Sao Paulo, Brazil, July 2, 2020. Brazil's southeast state of Sao Paulo, which is hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic, on June 29 announced fines for failing to wear a face mask in public. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)

 Brazil on Friday reported a daily increase of 1,212 COVID-19 deaths, taking the national death toll to 92,475.

Health authorities also detected 52,383 new cases in the past 24 hours, raising the total caseload to 2,662,485.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, is also the most affected, with 542,304 cases and 22,997 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 165,495 infections and 13,477 deaths, and Ceara, with 173,882 positives and 7,668 deaths.

Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the pandemic, second only to the United States, both in terms of caseload and death toll.