RIO DE JANEIRO, March 28 (Xinhua) - Brazil recorded 3,438 deaths from COVID-19 on Saturday, said the country's Ministry of Health.

It is the second consecutive day that Brazil has reported more than 3,000 daily deaths, and the third since the disease was first detected in the country in February last year.

Brazil recorded 3,650 deaths on Friday, the highest daily count since the outbreak of the pandemic.

The death toll from COVID-19 in the country now stands at 310,550, according to ministry data.

Meanwhile, the ministry reported 85,948 new cases in the last 24 hours, bringing the national caseload to 12,490,362.

Brazil is currently one of the global epicenters of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the world's second-worst outbreak in terms of both deaths and infections, only after the United States.

Brazil had vaccinated 19.5 million people against COVID-19 as of Friday, of which 14.88 million had received the first dose and 4.64 million had got both jabs, according to local media.