Brasilia, Nov 20 (IANS): The Brazilian government has said that the country may experience a possible second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, as the number of confirmed cases and deaths have continued to rapidly increase.

Addressing the media on Thursday, Economy Minister Paulo Guedes said that if a second wave is confirmed in Brazil, the government will tackle the problem as it did for the first time, but with more experience, reports Xinhua news agency.

"If it happens, it will be like a war that contrary to lasting a year, lasts two or three years. We will face the disease as we already have," Guedes told reporters.

Some regions of the country are seeing a rise in cases and deaths from the virus, but "it is not a general phenomenon" throughout the country, he said.

Several studies have indicated a second wave in Brazil, where the curve of cases, which has been declining since September, began to rise again in recent days.

Brazil has the world's second highest Covid-19 death toll after the US, and the third largest caseload after the US and India.

As of Friday, the number of confirmed cases and deaths in Brazil stood at 5,981,767 and 168,061, respectively.