Brazil is now the second country after the U.S. to pass one million COVID-19 cases after reporting 54,771 new cases in a 24-hour period ending Friday night. The country’s Health Ministry blamed a lag in some rural areas for the increase. Brazil has also logged nearly 49,000 deaths related to the deadly pandemic. The New York Times reports that epidemiologists project that the death toll in Brazil could surpass the U.S. fatality rate by late July. Latin America is now the epicenter of the global pandemic.