COVID-19 pandemic claims over 750 more lives in Brazil and Mexico

Some 759 more lives were lost to the novel coronavirus in Brazil and Mexico, while more than 18,000 new infections were confirmed in the two countries over the past 24 hours, health authorities said late Monday.

At least 455 more patients died in Brazil, raising the death toll in the world's third worst-hit country to 137,350.

The Health Ministry confirmed 15,821 new coronavirus cases, taking the overall count to over 4.56 million.

More than 3.88 million patients have recovered in Brazil, which has been the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in Latin America.

The financial hub of Sao Paolo, with a population of nearly 46 million, remains the country's hardest-hit region.

In Mexico, 2,917 more infections and 204 virus-related fatalities were registered.

The total COVID-19 count now stands at 700,580, including 73,697 fatalities and 502,982 recoveries, according to the Health Ministry.

The pandemic has claimed more than 964,700 lives in 188 countries and regions since last December, according to the latest figures by US' Johns Hopkins University.

Over 31.32 million infections have been reported worldwide, with close to 21.40 million recoveries.