The first-ever case of COVID-19 in Brazil was reported 358 days ago on 26th February 2020 but the novel coronavirus is still rampant in the country. To date, the country has reported more than 10 million cases and over 243,000 virus-related deaths.

According to the Johns Hopkins University coronavirus counter, 51,879 new cases were reported in the last 24 hours in Brazil taking the total tally to 10,030,626. This meant that Brazil became the third country to cross the grim milestone of 10 million infections after the United States and India.

The number of reported Covid deaths in the most populous country of Latin America is also alarming as at least 243,457 Brazilians have been reported to be dead due to Covid-19. 1,367 people succumbed to the viral disease just in the past 24 hours.

Brazil has seen a serious surge in the number of coronavirus infections and casualties in the past few weeks. In the past week, over 316,717 were reported to contract the virus and at least 7,256 patients died due to the lethal disease. The concerning news is that epidemiologists have warned that the recent carnival holiday could see a further rise in infections in the country, as was seen during the Christmas and New Year's holidays.

The Brazilian government has been unable to contain the spread of the virus. President Jair Bolsonaro continues to play down the gravity of the pandemic, urging the nation to get back to work.

Another dilemma faced by the country is the origin of a new strain of coronavirus in the largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas, Manaus. It has alarmed the health authorities in the country. Doctors have warned people that this new strain that has already spread to several states could make matters worse as it is deemed to be more contagious than the original strain.