Brazil’s confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus have risen past those of Spain and Italy, which was once the epicentre of the pandemic, making Brazil’s outbreak the fourth largest in the world, according to official figures.

Reuters reported that the country's health ministry registered 14,919 new confirmed cases in the prior 24 hours, taking the total to 233,142, behind the United States, Russia and the United Kingdom. Brazil has done just a fraction of the testing seen in those three countries.

Brazil’s health ministry also reported 816 new deaths related to the virus, bringing the total to 15,633.