Rio de Janeiro, March 19 (IANS) Brazil on Thursday reported 2,724 deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, the second-highest daily figure since the onset of the pandemic in February 2020.

According to the Ministry of Health, 86,982 new cases of Covid-19 were detected in the same period, marking the third-highest daily figure for the country, the Xinhua news agency reported.

Brazil's total Covid-19 death toll now stands at 287,499, while its accumulated caseload has reached 11,780,820, making the South American the second worst hit by the pandemic, after the US, in terms of both deaths and cases.

The country currently has an average of 137 deaths and 5,606 positive tests per 100,000 inhabitants.

As of Wednesday, Brazil had administered more than 14.6 million vaccines. A total of 10.71 million people have received the first dose and 3.91 million received both doses.

--IANS int/rs