RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Brazil again saw 1,171 more deaths from the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in 24 hours, raising the total death toll to 197,732, the Ministry of Health said on Tuesday.

According to the ministry, tests detected 56,648 new cases of infection in the same period, bringing the accumulated caseload to 7,810,400 since the onset of the pandemic here at the end of February.

The deaths reported on Tuesday were the second-highest single-day fatalities since September, after 1,194 patients died on Dec. 30.

Brazil has the world's second-highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third-largest outbreak, after the United States and India.

The state of Sao Paulo, the most populated in the country, is the epicenter of the national outbreak, with 1,486,551 cases and 47,222 deaths, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 443,607 cases and 25,837 deaths from the virus.

Brazil is currently seeing a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks, with a significant increase in cases since December that has pushed the public healthcare system to the brink of collapse in several regions.

Manaus, capital of northern Amazonas state, decreed a 180-day state of emergency on Tuesday due to the fact that the occupancy of hospital beds available for treating COVID-19 patients has reached 100 percent.