Brazil reports 206 new COVID-19 deaths, average daily toll falls to 201

Brazil has had 9,278 new cases of the novel coronavirus reported in the past 24 hours, and 206 deaths from COVID-19, the health ministry said on Thursday.

The South American country has now registered 22,177,059 cases since the pandemic began, while the official death toll has risen to 616,457, according to ministry data, in the world's second-deadliest outbreak outside the United States.

With 85% of adults now fully vaccinated, the rolling 14-day average of COVID-19 deaths has fallen to 201 per day, compared to the toll of almost 3,000 a day at the peak of the pandemic in April.