Brazil reports 85,149 new Covid-19 cases, 2,216 deaths in last 24 hours

Brazil on Friday reported 2,216 more deaths from COVID-19 and 85,149 new cases in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.

The nationwide death toll thus stood at 484,235 while the national count of COVID-19 cases mounted to 17,296,118, said the ministry.

Most of the country is seeing more than 80 per cent occupancy of hospital intensive care units (ICU) by patients with COVID-19, according to a newsletter published by the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation, Brazil's state-run medical research facility.

Some states, including Mato Grosso do Sul and Parana, have over 95 per cent occupancy of ICUs, overwhelming their healthcare systems.

Brazil's current average of daily COVID-19 deaths stands at 1,913, according to a daily report from the national council of health secretariats.

Some 23.5 million people, or 11.11 percent of the population, have received both vaccine shots, while 52.7 million, or 24.9 per cent, have received the first shot.

Brazil has the world's second-highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third-largest caseload, behind the United States and India.