Brasilia, Jan 2 (IANS): Brazil's overall coronavirus death toll has increased to 195,411 after 462 more patients succumbed to the disease in the past 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.
Besides the new fatalities, the country on Friday also reported 24,605 new cases, bringing its total to 7,700,578, reports Xinhua news agency.
With the two new tallies, Brazil currently accounts for the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll, after the US, and the third-largest caseload, after the US and India.
While Brazil celebrated the New Year without festivities and fireworks amid the ravaging pandemic, local authorities were still struggling to prevent the public from flocking to the beaches on New Year's Day.
In Riviera de Sao Lourenco, one of the most exclusive beaches in Sao Paulo state, police even threw smoke bombs on the sand to keep beachgoers away.