Brazil's COVID-19 cases exceed 13 mln

SAO PAULO, April 5 (Xinhua) -- Brazil reported on Monday 28,645 new COVID-19 infections and 1,319 deaths in the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 13,013,601 and the national death toll to 332,752, the Health Ministry said on Monday.

The South American country is one of the global epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, suffering the world's second-worst outbreak in terms of both deaths and infections, only after the United States.

Last week, the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, the most prominent science and technology health institution in Latin America attached to the Brazilian Ministry of Health, warned that hospitals in most parts of the country were under severe strain from a spike in COVID-19 infections, with ICU bed occupancy exceeding 90 percent.

Brazil started its vaccination process on Jan. 17 and has so far inoculated 19,474,826 people with at least one dose, while 5,389,211 people have received both doses.