SAO PAULO, July 12 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Sunday said its nationwide COVID-19 death toll has reached 72,100, with 631 more patients having succumbed to the novel coronavirus in the previous 24 hours.

The country has reported 24,831 new cases in the same period, bringing the total number of infections to 1,864,681, the health ministry said.

Brazil registers a mortality rate of 3.9 percent, and 1,123,204 people have recovered from COVID-19 in the past four months, according to the ministry's daily updated COVID-19 dashboard.

The most populous state of Sao Paulo is the epicenter of the epidemic, with 371,997 cases of infection and 17,848 deaths.