Brasilia, Oct 9 (IANS): Brazil's overall Covid-19 death toll, which is currently the second highest in the world after the US, has topped the 600,000 mark, according to health authorities.

As of Saturday, the toll stood at 600,425 after 615 fresh fatalities were reported in the last 24 hours, Xinhua news agency quoted the Health Ministry as saying.

At least 18,172 more people tested positive for the virus in the same period, which took the country's overall infection tally to 21,550,730, currently the third highest after the US and India.

Brazil managed to emerge from the healthcare collapse caused by the second wave of the pandemic between March and June, and is currently in a stable situation, with an average of 453 deaths per day, the lowest figure since November 2020.

It took the country 111 days to go from 500,000 Covid-19 deaths to 600,000, in contrast to the 51-day period it took to jump from 400,000 to 500,000 fatalities registered in the first half of the year.

According to official data, Brazil has fully vaccinated 97.2 million people, or 45.5 per cent of the population, while 148.8 million people, or 69.7 per cent, have received one dose.