RIO DE JANEIRO, Dec. 6 (Xinhua) -- Brazil registered 26,363 new COVID-19 cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national count to 6,603,540, the Health Ministry said Sunday.

Meanwhile, 313 more COVID-19 deaths were recorded, taking the nationwide tally to 176,941, it said.

Since November, the South American country has experienced an increase in both cases and deaths from the virus, a situation that threatens the fragile health system, as it is once again close to 100 percent capacity of the country's hospitals.

Currently, 18 out of the 27 Brazilian states have registered an increase in average daily deaths from the disease.