Covid-19 claims over 425,500 lives in Brazil

Rio De Janeiro, May 12 (IANS) Brazil's Covid-19 death toll reached 425,540 on Tuesday, after the Ministry of Health reported 2,311 more deaths from the pandemic in one day.In the previous 24 hours, tests also detected 72,715 new cases of Covid-19 infection. Since the country's first case was detected on February 26, 2020, 15,282,705 people in Brazil have tested positive for the virus, the Xinhua news agency reported.Brazil has the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll, after the US. It is facing a new wave of Covid-19 infections, which has resulted in an increase in cases and deaths and the collapse of hospitals incapable of handling the surge of patients.As of Monday, Brazil had vaccinated 53.9 million people against Covid-19 -- 35.9 million (16.96 per cent of the population) with the first dose and 18 million (8.54 per cent of the population) with both doses.
--IANS int/rs