SAO PAULO, Feb. 19 (Xinhua) -- Brazil registered 51,050 new COVID-19 infections and 1,308 deaths from the disease in the past 24 hours, raising the national counts to 10,081,676 and 244,765 respectively, the Health Ministry said Friday.

Brazil, which has the world's second-largest COVID-19 death toll after the United States, has seen a daily average of more than 1,000 deaths in the past month.

Sao Paulo state, a nationwide epicenter of the pandemic, has seen 1,960,564 cases and 57,499 deaths since the country's first case was detected in the state on Feb. 26, 2020. The state government on Friday modified part of its contingency plan against COVID-19, expanding restrictions in interior cities, such as Barretos and Presidente Prudente, due to resurging cases.

The city of Araraquara is in a total lockdown due to increasing hospitalizations and the detection of 12 community-transmitted cases of an Amazon variant, which is much more contagious, according to specialists.

Meanwhile, in the state capital Sao Paulo and its metropolitan area, authorities lifted a ban on liquor sales between 8 and 10 p.m. at bars and restaurants, which had been in place since the beginning of February.

In the northeast state of Bahia, a two-week nighttime curfew was imposed to curb the spread of the virus.

The state has reported 647,384 cases and 11,060 deaths from the disease. Enditem

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