Brazilian artist Alex Flemming puts on a "face mask" over one of his artworks on the platform of Sumare subway station amid COVID-19 outbreak in Sao Paulo, Brazil on May 6, 2020. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)

Brazil registered 965 deaths from the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, taking the death toll to 22,013, the Ministry of Health reported Saturday.

The largest country in Latin America also registered 16,508 new cases in the last 24 hours, taking the tally to 347,398.

The country set a new record for the number of deaths in a day on Thursday, with 1,188 fatalities.

Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the virus in Brazil and the country's most populous state, has registered 6,045 deaths and 80,558 cases.

The Ministry of Health has also reported 142,587 recoveries from the disease so far.