Sao Paulo, July 20 (IANS) Brazil's Covid-19 death toll raced towards 80,000, after 716 more deaths pushed the total number to 79,488.

The number of people who have tested positive for the novel coronavirus reached 2,098,389, after tests detected 23,529 new cases, the Health Ministry said on Sunday, Xinhua reported.

Brazil has the world's second-largest outbreak, after the United States, in both numbers of cases and deaths.

Sao Paulo, the most populated state, is the epicenter of the nation's outbreak, with 19,732 deaths and 415,049 cases of infection, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 12,114 deaths and 138,524 cases, and Ceara, with 7,178 deaths and 146,972 infections.

--IANS pgh/