Rio de Janeiro: Brazil registered a record number of daily deaths from the novel coronavirus for a second consecutive day, according to Health Ministry data, even as city and state authorities move aggressively to reopen commerce.

The nation recorded 1349 new coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, Brasilia time, and 28,633 additional confirmed cases, the data showed. It has now registered more than 32,500 deaths and more than 584,000 total confirmed cases from 930,000 tests.

Latin America as a whole has emerged as the world's worst coronavirus hotspot, with nations like Peru, Ecuador, Chile and Panama also grappling with massive caseloads.

Mexico also set a new record of 1092 coronavirus deaths on Wednesday, with cases there blasting past 100,000.