COVID-19 death toll hits 46 in Brazil

BRASILIA -- The death toll from COVID-19 in Brazil has climbed to 46, with a total of 2,201 people infected, the Brazilian Health Ministry said on Tuesday.

The figures mean the COVID-19 mortality rate in Brazil is 2.1 percent, health ministry official Wanderson Oliveira told reporters.

Southeast Brazil recorded 1,278 cases or 58.1 percent, followed by the northeast with 354 cases or 16.1 percent.

Of the 46 fatalities, 40 were in Sao Paulo, the country's most populous state, and six in Rio de Janeiro.

Brazil has been working to improve its testing capacity to better control the spread of the virus, said Oliveira, adding that more than 14 million test kits will be made available.