Brazil's Covid-19 death toll tops 232,000

Brasilia, Feb 9 One of the hardest-hit countries in the world, Brazil's overall Covid-19 death toll has surged to 232,170, after 636 more people succumbed to the virus in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.

Brazil's death toll is the second highest in the world after the US, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Ministry said that in the same period, an additional 23,439 people tested positive for the virus, which increased the total caseload to 9,548,079, the third largest globally following the US and India.

The northern state of Amazonas, one of the pandemic hotspots, had the highest number of single-day fatalities of 113, raising its death toll to 9,116, while the caseload surged to 283,658.

Sao Paulo, the most populous and the hardest hit state in the country, has reopened public schools with face-to-face classes, but attending in person is not mandatory.

Some 3.3 million students started the school year with building occupancy rates limited to 35 per cent and the option of distance learning.

( With inputs from IANS )