Brazil now No 2 in world for coronavirus cases

Brazil has confirmed more than 330,000 cases of the coronavirus, surpassing Russia to become the nation with the second-highest number of infections, behind only the United States, reports Al Jazeera.

The grim milestone on Friday came as the World Health Organization (WHO) called South America "a new epicentre" of the deadly virus, with the WHO's emergencies director, Mike Ryan, expressing most concern for Brazil.

"In a sense, South America has become a new epicentre for the disease. We have seen many South American countries with increasing numbers of cases," Ryan told a virtual news conference.

"Clearly there is a concern across many of those countries, but clearly the most affected is Brazil at this point," he said.

Brazil registered 1,001 daily coronavirus deaths on Friday, taking the total deaths to 21,048, according to the health ministry.

However the true number - of both cases and deaths - is likely higher as Latin America's top economy has been slow to ramp up testing.

The death toll has doubled in just 11 days, according to the ministry's data. "The majority of the cases are from the Sao Paulo region," Ryan said.

"But in terms of attack rates, the highest attack rates are actually in Amazonas: about 490 persons infected per 100,000 population, which is quite high," he said of Brazil's vast northwestern state.