SAO PAULO, Jan. 23 (Xinhua) -- Brazil reported 1,202 deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in the last 24 hours, making Saturday the fifth consecutive day of more than 1,000 deaths, bringing the death toll to 216,445, the ministry of health reported Saturday.
The ministry said that in the last 24 hours, 62,334 new COVID-19 cases were registered, bringing the total to 8,816,254.
Sao Paulo, the state affected the most by the pandemic, has registered 51,423 deaths and 1,694,355 positive cases in total.
The state of Amazonas, which added another 162 deaths on Saturday, has reported 100 percent occupancy in public hospitals and 90 percent occupancy in private hospitals, as local health system grapples with a lack of oxygen to treat those with COVID-19.
With a total of 7,051 deaths and 248,561 cases so far, Amazonas Governor Wilson Lima announced that starting next Monday there will be seven days of unprecedented restrictions to stop the spread of the pandemic, with all non-essential activities prohibited.
Brazil, which began its national vaccination campaign on Monday, has the world's second highest number of deaths from COVID-19 and third in the number of caseload. Enditem
