RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Sunday reported it registered 494 deaths from the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in the previous 24 hours, the lowest number of fatalities in a single day since May 31.

According to the Ministry of Health, the figure brought the total death toll to 114,744.

In the same 24-hour period, tests detected 23,421 new cases of infection, bringing the total caseload to 3,605,783.

The southeast state of Sao Paulo, Brazil's most populous, is the epicenter of the country's outbreak, with 754,129 cases of infection and 28,467 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 210,948 cases and 15,292 deaths.

Brazil is second only to the United States in terms of both cases and deaths from COVID-19.