RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – On Wednesday, January 20th, Brazil reported 1,340 deaths from COVID-19 in one day, the second-highest daily count since August 19th, the Health Ministry said. The highest single-day death toll was 1,524, registered on January 7th.
The latest fatalities brought the nationwide death toll to 212,831, the second-highest in the world, following the United States.
In the last 24 hours, tests detected 64,385 new cases of Covid-19 infection, bringing the national tally to 8,638,249, the world’s third-largest caseload, after the United States and India.
The state of São Paulo, the most populous in the country, is the most affected with 1,658,636 cases and 50,652 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 490,821 cases and 28,215 deaths.
The country is currently facing a second wave of outbreaks that has resulted in an increase in cases and deaths since December.
Brazil launched a vaccination campaign against Covid-19 on Monday, January 18th, after the national health regulatory agency authorized on Sunday the emergency use of CoronaVac, a vaccine manufactured by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac in conjunction with the São Paulo-based Butantan Institute, as well as a vaccine developed by British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca and Oxford University, which is not yet available in Brazil.