Brasilia, June 16 (RHC)-- In the last 24 hours, Brazil has registered 892 new deaths from the virus with 21,704 new cases, according to the health ministry.

Sao Paulo, the epicenter of the virus in Brazil and the country's most populous state, has registered 172,875 cases and 10,581 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro with 78,836 cases and 7,592 deaths, and Ceara with 76,429 cases and 4,829 deaths.

Brazil, with the second-highest number of cases in the world after the United States, surpassed Britain to have the second-highest death toll in the world on Friday.

To track the spread of the pandemic in the country, the ministry on Friday launched a new platform, hosted at "susanalitico.saude.gov.br," which displays the number of recoveries as well as those being monitored, in addition to charts showing the number of daily deaths from the disease and the number of deaths per 100,000 people -- factors that help determine the degree of contagion.

Brazil, with the second-highest number of cases in the world after the United States, surpassed Britain to have the second-highest death toll in the world on Friday.