Latin America's death toll from COVID-19 surpassed 1.5 million Friday, according to an AFP tally drawn from official figures.

The toll is at least 1,500,350 deaths, with more than 45 million cases of the virus recorded.

Brazil in particular surpassed 600,000 deaths on Friday, the second hardest hit country after the United States.

After Brazil comes Mexico, Peru, Colombia and Argentina in terms of deaths.

Peru has the highest per capita COVID-19 toll, at 605 fatalities per 100,00 inhabitants.

Globally the pandemic has now claimed the lives of more than 4.8 million, with more than 237 million cases of the virus reported.

Notably, AFP compiles its tally with figures from national governments and the World Health Organization.