Brazil overtakes Britain with second-highest COVID-19 death toll

RIO DE JANEIRO: Brazil has overtaken Britain to be the country with the second-highest death toll of COVID-19 in the world, according to data from the Brazilian Health Ministry.

The ministry on late Friday confirmed 909 new deaths over the last 24 hours, taking the country's total deaths to 41,828, while the death toll in Britian is 41,566.

Within the same period, Brazil's coronavirus tally increased by 25,982 to 828,810, making it the country with the second-highest caseload in the world only after the United States, which has reported more than 2 million cases, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Brazil confirmed its first COVID-19 case on February 26.