The global coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) caseload surpassed the milestone of 27 million on Sunday, with the dead toll over 882,000, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.

The United States still ranks the first in the tally with a total number of over 6.27 million infections and a death toll over 188,940.

India surpassed Brazil to become the world’s second-worst-hit country with its total caseload hitting over 4.2 million, and its death toll reached 71,642.

India is passing through the Unlock-4 phase after the pandemic hit the country over seven months ago. Over the past several weeks, the Asian country’s focus has been on ramping up samples testing, which has led to the sudden jump in new COVID-19 cases found every day.

As per the data from the Indian Council of Medical Research, 48,831,145 samples had been tested till Saturday, with 1,092,654 samples tested on Saturday alone.

Brazil on Sunday said it registered 447 deaths from COVID-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 126,650, while thousands headed to beach and other recreational spots for the long weekend of Independence Day, which was on Sept. 7.

The Ministry of Health also reported that 14,521 cases of infection were detected in the last 24 hours, bringing the total number of cases since the start of the pandemic to 4,137,521, ranking the third in the global tally.

In the southeast state of Sao Paulo, the worst hit by COVID-19 and the most populated in the country, less than 40 percent of residents stayed at home, the Globo TV network reported, citing government figures. (PNA)