Brazil approaches 9 million COVID-19 cases, death toll at 218,878

FILE PHOTO: A patient suffering from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is treated in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at a field hospital set up to treat patients suffering from the disease (COVID-19) in Guarulhos, Sao Paulo state, Brazil, May 12, 2020.REUTERS/Amanda Perobelli

Brazil had 61,963 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 1,214 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The South American country has now registered 8,933,356 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 218,878, according to ministry data, in the world's third worst outbreak outside the United States and India.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Leslie Adler)