RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Brazil recorded more than 1,000 COVID-19 deaths for a fourth consecutive day, bringing the national toll to 208,246, the Ministry of Health reported on Friday.
In the past 24 hours, 1,151 deaths were reported, and 69,198 new cases were registered, also the fourth day in a row with over 60,000 infections, raising the total caseload to 8,393,492, said the ministry.
Brazil is one of the countries hardest-hit by the pandemic, ranking second in death toll after the United States, and third in the number of total cases, following the United States and India.
The country has been seeing a second wave of COVID-19 outbreak, with a significant increase in cases since December, which has pushed the public healthcare system to the brink of collapse in several regions.
The state of Sao Paulo, the most populated in the country, has been worst hit by the virus, with 1,605,845 cases and 49,600 deaths.
The Health Ministry on Friday confirmed the country's first case of reinfection with a new variant of COVID-19, detected in the northern state of Amazonas. So far, two reinfections with a new variant have been reported in the country. Enditem
