The number of coronavirus deaths in Brazil has blown past Italy's toll as the country and other Latin American nations push to end quarantine measures and kick their economies back into gear.
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The region as a whole has become a new focus of the coronavirus pandemic, with health officials urging governments there not to open their economies too fast and to avoid public crowds.
Brazil posted a record number of daily deaths for third consecutive day on Thursday, with 1437 deaths in the past 24 hours and 30,925 additional coronavirus cases, according to data released by the health ministry.
Total deaths in South America's largest nation now stand at 34,021, trailing only the United States and the United Kingdom.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro has played down the pandemic, criticising social distancing measures and urging regional government to lift restrictions for the sake of the economy.
On Tuesday, Bolsonaro told Brazilians that death is "everyone's destiny".
With much of Latin America's population living day to day from earnings in the informal sector, many regional leaders are keen to reopen local economies, amid signs of growing hunger and strains on public finances.
The mayor of Rio de Janeiro - Brazil's second-largest city, home to nearly seven million people - allowed more than 10,000 street vendors to go back to work on Thursday
"The other day, some kid told me: I prefer to die of coronavirus than see my family die of hunger," Rio Mayor Marcelo Crivella told journalists.
Later in the day, during a Facebook Live session, Bolsonaro encouraged the federal solicitor-general to sue states to force them into reopening their beaches.
In Brazil, health officials say there are indications new hospitalisations are stabilising but new deaths and confirmed cases are still growing rapidly.
Many epidemiologists warn the reopenings could be premature.
Australian Associated Press