Brazil is suffering a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases as the Omicron variant spreads through the country, putting pressure on health services and weighing on an already sputtering economy.

Insufficient testing and a data blackout caused by hackers have made it harder for experts to track the spread of Omicron in Brazil, but there are increasingly clear signs that the variant is hitting Latin America's largest nation hard.

Confirmed cases have almost doubled since last week, with the rolling average for the past seven days surging to 52,500, from 27,267 last Wednesday.

Read the full Reuters story here.