Coronavirus: Brazil tops 100,000 deaths and three million cases

Brazil has surpassed 100,000 coronavirus deaths and three million cases of infection.

Volunteer Paulo Roberto Oliveira receives a COVID-19 vaccine produced by Chinese company Sinovac in Porto Alegre, southern Brazil on Sunday (AEST). Picture: AFP

Brazil has surpassed 100,000 coronavirus deaths and three million cases of infection.

With 100,477 fatalities and 3,012,412 confirmed cases, the South American country of 212 million people is the second hardest-hit country in the global pandemic, after the US.

The health ministry on Sunday reported 905 new deaths in the past 24 hours, as well as 49,970 new cases.

But the official figures are most likely an undercount, with experts estimating that the total number of infections could be up to six times higher due to insufficient testing.

Brazil has suffered 478 deaths per million people, a figure equivalent to that of the US (487), but lower than that of Spain (609) or Italy (583).

The Chinese company Sinovac has launched the final phase three trial of its vaccine in Brazil. China, where the virus originated, has largely brought its outbreak under control and has therefore had to turn to other countries to test its vaccines.

AFP