Brasilia, Mar 1 (IANS): Amid the raging second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Brazil reported 34,027 new cases and 721 additional deaths in the last 24 hours, the Ministry of Health said.

The new additions increased taking the overall case tally to 10,551,259 and the death toll to 254,942, reports Xinhua news agency citing the Ministry as saying.

Brazil currently accounts for the country with the second highest number of Covid-19 deaths after the US and third in terms of the number of confirmed cases, after the US and India.

The country currently registers an average of 121 deaths and 5,021 cases per 100,000 inhabitants, according to the ministry.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, has been the most affected, with 2,041,628 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 59,493 related deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 583,044 cases and 33,080 deaths.

The second wave of the coronavirus has caused the health systems of most regional capitals to collapse, forcing regional governments to tighten restrictions and social distancing measures.

As of February 27, 6.5 million people, or more than 3 per cent of the population, had received at least one dose of Covid-19 vaccine, while 1.9 million people were administered both doses.