The latest update from his ministry said the toll is now 500,800, with 2,301 deaths in the past 24 hours. Experts say government’s Covid figures underestimate the real toll from the health crisis. 

This week the average daily death toll in Brazil surpassed 2,000 for the first time since May 10. Brazil, with a population of 212 million, became the second country after the United States to surpass 500,000 Covid-19 deaths. 

The South American giant experienced a second wave of the pandemic this year, when at one point it topped 4,000 deaths per day. More than 60 percent of Brazil's fatalities have come since the start of 2021.

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