Brazil hits record 100,000 coronavirus cases in a day, piling pressure on Bolsonaro

Brazil's President Jair Bolsonaro gestures during a ceremony to announce measures by Caixa Economica bank in support of philanthropic hospitals, in Brasilia, Brazil March 25, 2021. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Brazil on Thursday registered a record 100,158 new coronavirus cases within 24 hours, the Health Ministry said, underlining the scale of a snowballing outbreak that is becoming a major political crisis for President Jair Bolsonaro.

The record caseload, along with 2,777 more COVID-19 deaths, comes a day after Brazil surpassed 300,000 fatalities from the pandemic, the world's worst death toll after the United States.