Brazil registered 54,742 COVID-19 infections and 1,351 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the totals to 9,713,909 cases and 236,201 deaths, the health ministry said on Thursday, Trend reports citing Xinhua.
With these records, the South American country has recorded its 22nd consecutive day with more than 1,000 daily deaths, returning to the worst figures from the first phase of the pandemic in May through July of 2020.
Brazilian Health Minister Eduardo Pazuello told a senate committee that the COVID-19 variant detected in the Amazon is three times more contagious than previous variants.
Meanwhile, more than 4.7 million people have been vaccinated since Jan. 17 with CoronaVac, a vaccine developed by Chinese pharmaceutical firm Sinovac in collaboration with the Butantan Institute of Sao Paulo, and with a vaccine developed by Britain's AstraZeneca and Oxford University.