Brazil has 2,468 COVID deaths in 24 hours, nears half million toll – ministry

BRASILIA (Reuters) – Brazil has had 80,609 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 2,468 deaths from COVID-19, the Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The South American country has registered 17,533,221 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 490,696, according to ministry data, in the world’s third worst outbreak outside the United States and India and its second-deadliest.

(Reporting by Anthony Boadle; Editing by Leslie Adler)