BOGOTA, Colombia

The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Brazil surpassed 20 million Wednesday after the country reported 40,716 infections in the past 24 hours.

Some 1,175 coronavirus-related fatalities were also reported, taking the death toll to 559,607.

The Latin American country, with a population of nearly 214 million, has the second-highest death toll after the US and ranks third in terms of the number of cases reported.

While over 142 million people in the country have received at least one dose of a vaccine, the number of cases reported per day continues to rise.

*Writing by Busra Nur Cakmak