RIO DE JANEIRO | Brazil recorded 70,574 new cases of COVID-19 in one day on Wednesday, the highest number since the start of the pandemic, which has killed more than 183,000 in the country.
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The previous record for infections was 69,074 cases as of July 29.
In the past 24 hours, 936 deaths have been recorded, out of a total of 183,735 recorded since March, according to the Ministry of Health.
For its part, the authorities in Sao Paulo have reported a first case of reinfection. This is a 41-year-old woman, who had already contracted the coronavirus in June.
Since the beginning of November, the South American giant has seen an upsurge in cases and deaths which worries the medical authorities on the eve of the end of the year holidays.
Rio de Janeiro, with its 17 million inhabitants, is the state with the highest death rate: 140 per 100,000 inhabitants, against 87 for the whole country and 96 for Sao Paulo.
The Brazilian Ministry of Health unveiled a national immunization plan and announced Tuesday that it wants to vaccinate “the general population” within 16 months of the approval of a vaccine by the Brazilian health regulator, Anvisa.
The Ministry of Health is targeting the immunization of at least 70% of the population, or nearly 150 million people.
After being very skeptical about vaccines, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro changed his tone on Wednesday, saying the immunization campaign would allow the country “to return to normal.”
Bolsonaro contracted the virus in July and recovered after about 20 days.