RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan 6 (NNN-CMA) – Brazil saw 1,171 more deaths from COVID-19, in 24 hours, raising the total death toll to 197,732, the Ministry of Health, said.
According to the ministry, tests detected 56,648 new cases in the same period, bringing the accumulated caseload to 7,810,400, since the onset of the pandemic.
The deaths reported were the second-highest single-day fatalities since Sept, when 1,194 patients died.
Brazil has the world’s second-highest COVID-19 deaths, after the United States, and the third-largest outbreak, after the United States and India.
The state of Sao Paulo, the most populated in the country, is the epicentre of the national outbreak, with 1,486,551 cases and 47,222 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 443,607 cases and 25,837 deaths.
Brazil is currently seeing a second wave of outbreak, with a significant increase in cases since Dec, that has pushed the public healthcare system to the brink of collapse in several regions.
Manaus, capital of northern Amazonas state, decreed a 180-day state of emergency yesterday, due to the fact that the occupancy of hospital beds available, has reached 100 percent.
