A consumer and a salesclerk stand in a store at a shopping mall in Sao Paulo, Brazil on June 11, 2020. (Xinhua/Rahel Patrasso)

Brazil reported Monday that its COVID-19 death toll has climbed to 43,959, as 888,271 people have tested positive for the novel coronavirus nationwide.

In the past 24 hours, the disease claimed 627 lives, and 20,647 new infections were detected, according to the Brazilian Ministry of Health.

The southeast state of Sao Paulo is hit the hardest, with 181,460 infections and 10,767 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 80,946 infections and 7,728 deaths; and Ceara, with 79,462 cases and 4,999 deaths.

Brazil has the world's second-worst outbreak of COVID-19, after the United States.