Experts fear the new coronavirus could spread rapidly among peoples with lesser resistance even to already common diseases and limited access to health care, potentially wiping out some smaller groups.

On Thursday, confirmed cases in Brazil totaled 2,012,151, while deaths numbered 76,688.

According to Reuters, the country recorded 37,923 new confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus in the past 24 hours as well as 1,091 deaths, the Health Ministry said on Saturday.

The country's president has shunned social distancing, calling it a job-killing measure more dangerous than the virus itself.

China's capital recorded a further drop in coronavirus cases amid tightened containment measures, while Brazil surpassed 1 million confirmed infections, second only to the United States.

Second only to the United States in both cases and deaths, Brazil has struggled with a relentless spread of the virus across the country.

With more than 34,000 lives lost, the pandemic has killed more people in Brazil than anywhere outside of the United States and United Kingdom.

State and local authorities that have supported quarantining measures are loosening restrictions as hunger grows and public finances, shaky in the best of times, plummet deep into the red.

In its original announcement on Sunday, it said the restrictions would come into force on May 28.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro also doubled down on recommending the use of the anti-malarial drug hydroxychloroquine as a possible remedy, echoing Trump's approval of the drug.