Brazil posted a single-day record on Tuesday for COVID-19 deaths with 1,641 people dying from the disease, according to health ministry data.

That surpassed the previous single-day high of 1,595 COVID-19 deaths recorded in late July 2020, as Brazil faces a new peak in coronavirus cases and the hospital system is pushed to the brink of collapse.

More than 257,000 people have died of COVID-19 in Brazil and about 10.6 million people have been infected since the pandemic began, according to the health ministry.