SAO PAULO, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Brazil on Thursday reported 19,916 new COVID-19 infections and 114 more related deaths in the past 24 hours, raising the national counts to 30,418,920 and 663,225 respectively, according to the Ministry of Health.

Brazilian Health Minister Marcelo Queiroga has signed a decree on April 22 ending the COVID-19 public health emergency, which has been in force since February 2020, as COVID-19 hospitalizations, deaths and cases have fallen to their lowest levels since January, when a record number of infections had been reported due to the spread of the Omicron variant.

As of Thursday, around 163.8 million Brazilians, or 76.2 percent of the population, had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, and 85.7 million people had received a booster shot, according to official data.

Brazil has the world's third largest caseload, following the United States and India.