Brazil's Covid-19 cases top 9.5 million

Brasilia, Feb 8 (IANS) One of the hardest-hit countries in the world, Brazil's overall Covid-19 caseload has surged to 9,524,640 after 26,845 more people tested positive for the virus in the last 24 hours the Ministry of Health said.

Brazil's caseload is the third highest in the world after the US and India, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Ministry said that in the same period, the country registered 522 additional Covid-19 fatalities, which increased the death toll 231,534, the second largest globally following the US.

Sao Paulo, the most populous and the hardest-hit state in the country, has so far reported 1,849,334 cases and 54,614 deaths.

The South American giant's national vaccination program began in January and so far around 3.5 million people have been inoculated against the disease.