RIO DE JANEIRO, June 3 — Brazil registered another record number of novel coronavirus deaths over the last 24 hours, the health ministry said yesterday evening, as the pandemic in Latin America's largest country shows no signs of slowing down.

The nation registered 28,936 additional cases of the novel coronavirus, the ministry said, and 1,262 deaths. There are now 555,383 total confirmed coronavirus cases in Brazil and 31,199 coronavirus deaths.

The fresh record comes as some Brazilian leaders, including right-wing President Jair Bolsonaro, continue to belittle the virus, warning that the economic fallout from quarantine measures will be worse than the virus itself.

"We lament all deaths, but it's everyone's destiny,” Bolsonaro said in front of the presidential residence in Brasilia earlier yesterday.

Even in states and cities where leaders had previously instituted lockdown orders, authorities have been rapidly loosening restrictions in recent days, despite the number of daily new cases continuing to grow in most regions. — Reuters