Brasilia, Feb 14 : Brazil registered 1,043 additional deaths due to the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours, marking the fifth consecutive day that the single-day fatalities have remained above the 1,000 mark, the Ministry of Health said. The new fatalities have increased the overall death toll to 238,532, the second highest in the world after the US, Xinhua news agency reported. The Ministry also reported 44,299 new cases of Covid-19 also in the same period, bringing the national tally to 9,809,754, the third highest after the US and India. The state of Sao Paulo, the most populous in the country, is the hardest hit by the pandemic, with 56,191 deaths and 1,911,411 cases, followed by Rio de Janeiro, with 554,040 cases and 31,383 deaths. So far, more than 5 million people, or 2.38 per cent of the Brazilian population, have received the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine. At least 189,100 people have received the second shot. /IANS