- Brazil's total number of COVID-19 infections has hit 1,032,913, according to Sky News.
- There was a major increase in new cases on Friday, with 54,771 new infections and 1,206 further deaths.
- Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has frequently appeared to dismiss the severity of the pandemic.
- Meanwhile, the US surpassed 2 million infections earlier this month.
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Brazil has become the second country to reach more than 1 million COVID-19 infections, after the United States surpassed 2 million infections earlier this month.
The country saw a major increase in cases on Friday, with 54,771 new infections — bringing the total number to 1,032,913, according to Sky News.
There were also 1,206 new deaths, bringing the total death toll to 48,954, the publication reports.
However, the health ministry said the record spike was due to reporting system corrections in some states from previous days.
Brazil is predicted to surpass the US both in coronavirus infections and deaths by the end of July, Business Insider reported.
Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro has frequently dismissed the severity of the pandemic, having attacked governors who chose to regulate health restrictions, according to The Post.
Despite the growing number of infections, the country has still not initiated a national testing campaign or a nationwide lockdown.
Meanwhile, more than 115,000 have died from the coronavirus in the US, and an infectious disease expert claimed that the virus won't slow down until "about 60% or 70%' of the American population is infected."
"About 5% of the US population has been infected to date with the virus, this virus is not going to rest until it gets to about 60% or 70%," Dr. Michael Osterholm told "Fox News Sunday."
"When I say rest, I mean just slow down, so one way or another we're going to see a lot of additional cases."
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