Coronavirus: 'Graves' dug on Brazilian beach to honour coronavirus dead

Protesters angry at Brazil's coronavirus response have created 100 graves on Rio's Copacabana beach to commemorate the country's nearly 40,000 victims.

Brazil now has the world's second biggest outbreak of coronavirus, after the US, with more than 800,000 cases so far.

The symbolic graves, with black crosses, were dug before dawn opposite the Copacabana Hotel by activists, the BBC reports.

But they say supporters of President Jair Bolsonaro had mocked the event with one man pulling out crosses.

Brazil has reported a cumulative total of 802,828 confirmed cases of coronavirus.

The South American country now has the world's second worst outbreak after the United States with 30,412 new infections recorded in the last 24 hours.

With another 1239 fatalities, the death toll in Brazil has reached 40,919, the health ministry said, the world's third highest after the United States and Britain.

Of the total cases of COVID-19, 345,595 have recovered, the ministry says.

Mr Bolsanaro, a far-right populist leader with a devoted fan base, has been described as South America's Donald Trump.

In the face of surging cases and deaths, Mr Bolsonaro has been dismissive.

He has been repeatedly pushing the use of malaria drug chloroquine as a treatment for COVID-19. But numerous studies find that chloroquine and associated drug hydroxychloroquine is ineffective and potentially harmful against COVID-19.

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- Reported with AAP