SAO PAULO, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) -- Brazil reported another 469 deaths from COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the national count to 203,100, said the health ministry.

Meanwhile, 29,792 more cases were registered in the last 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 8,105,790.

Sao Paulo is the hardest-hit state with 48,351 deaths and 1,546,132 cases.

The state of Amazonas is currently facing an emergency as surging cases threaten to overwhelm its hospital system, after 1,580 hospitalizations were registered from Jan. 1 to 9.

The governor of Amazonas, Wilson Lima, has announced the reopening of a field hospital.

The health ministry reported in a Sunday statement that it received a notification from Japan about the detection of a new variant of the coronavirus in four travelers who had visited the state of Amazonas before returning to Japan on Jan. 2.

The ministry said it had asked the Japanese government for details about the four Japanese visitors and their itinerary to identify potential contacts in Brazil.