Brasilia, Jan 8 (IANS): Amidst a second wave of the pandemic, Brazil's coronavirus death toll increased to 200,498 on Friday, after 1,524 more patients died of the disease in the last 24 hours, official data revealed.

According to data released by the Ministry of Health, the new fatality figure was the second highest single-day spike since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country in February 2020, reports Xinhua news agency.

The previous highest number of single-day Covid-19 deaths occurred on July 29, 2020, when 1,590 patients died.

Also in the last 24 hours, another 87,843 tested positive for the virus, which increased the nationwide infection tally to 7,961,673.

The daily infection spike also broke the previous record set on December 16, 2020, when 70,574 new cases were reported.

Brazil currently accounts for the world's second largest Covid-19 death toll, after the US, and the third highest infection tally, after the US and India.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populated in the country, has been hardest hit by the virus, with 1,515,158 cases and 47,768 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 452,758 cases and 26,292 deaths.