US records daily death toll below 700 for third consecutive day, tally stands at 98,875

The daily death toll in the United States has been below 700 for the third consecutive day, the country has recorded 657 deaths in the past 24 hours, the Johns Hopkins University tracker said Tuesday.

Also read: Coronavirus: Brazil records over 1,000 daily deaths for fourth time in week, toll stands at 24,512

The death toll in the country now stands at 98,875, and the number of cases of infection stands at more than 1.68 million, it said. 

Despite showing a decrease in the toll, the United States remains the worst-hit nation in terms of the novel coronavirus. 

Also read: Twitter fact-checks Trump tweet for the first time, calls it 'unsubstantiated' 

Followed by Brazil, the country has recorded 1,039 deaths in 24 hours due to the novel coronavirus. Despite being downplayed by Jair Bolsonaro, who called it a "little flu", Brazil has turned out to be the new epicentre of the virus. Their death toll has surged to 24,512, according to health ministry figures. 

According to health experts, the numbers are probably much higher but due to under-testing, many cases are going unnoticed. 

In terms of cases, Brazil has recorded 391,222 infections in a population of 210 million.

While the country has officially surpassed the United States in terms of the daily death toll, Bolsonaro continues to tout the virus as a ''measly cold'' and is not willing to acknowledge the outcome of his actions.