RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Brazil recorded more than 1,000 deaths from the coronavirus for the third consecutive day, reporting 1,131 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the national death toll to 207,095, the government said Thursday.

According to the Ministry of Health, 67,758 new cases were registered in the past day, the third day in a row with more than 60,000 infections, raising the total caseload to 8,324,294.

Brazil is one of the countries most affected by the pandemic, ranking second in death toll, surpassed only by the United States, and third in the number of total cases, behind the United States and India.

The country has been seeing a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks, with a significant increase in cases since December that has pushed the public healthcare system to the brink of collapse in several regions.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populated in the country, has been hardest hit by the virus, with 1,590,829 cases and 49,289 deaths.