RIO DE JANEIRO, July 13 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Monday reported a total of 1,884,967 people have tested positive for COVID-19 and 72,883 people have died from the disease.

In the past day, tests detected 20,286 new cases of infection and 733 more patients died, according to the Health Ministry.

Since the outbreak began in the country, 1,154,837 COVID-19 patients have recovered, the ministry said.

The southeast state of Sao Paulo, the country's most populated state, is the hardest hit, with 374,607 cases of infection and 17,907 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 132,044 cases and 11,474 deaths, and Ceara with 137,206 cases and 6,947 deaths.

Brazil saw the world's second-largest outbreak, after the United States, both in the number of deaths and in total cases.