Brazil reports total of 37,312 coronavirus deaths, says health ministry

Brazil registered 37,312 total coronavirus deaths while overall cases in the country reached 685,427, according to data from the health ministry on Sunday, amid criticism of the government's handling of the pandemic.

Unlike in the previous day, the government released cumulative figures on Sunday and not a tally of deaths and new infections in the last 24 hours. Based on Sunday's data, Brazil registered 1,382 new deaths and 12,581 new cases in the last 24 hours. The government changed its format for reporting COVID-19 statistics for the second straight day.

Over the weekend it removed from public view months of national data on the epidemic as President Jair Bolsonaro defended delays and changes to official record-keeping of the world's second-largest coronavirus outbreak. On Saturday Brazil registered 35,930 total coronavirus deaths and 672,846 confirmed cases.