People get tested inside their vehicles at a Covid-19 testing station on 14 January, 2022 in Monterey Park, California. Americans can start requesting free at-home Covid-19 tests, limited to four free tests per home, when a federal website begins accepting orders on 19 January amid nationwide shortages
People get tested inside their vehicles at a Covid-19 testing station on 14 January, 2022 in Monterey Park, California. Americans can start requesting free at-home Covid-19 tests, limited to four free tests per home, when a federal website begins accepting orders on 19 January  amid nationwide shortages

Global Covid cases top 600 million

Prothom Alo English DeskThe overall number of Covid cases has now surged past 600 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world, UNB reports.

According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 600,358,815 and the death toll reached 6,470,926 on Sunday morning.

The United States has the highest cumulative number of confirmed cases and deaths, both accounting for nearly 16 per cent of the world’s total.

The US has recorded 95,331,020 cases so far and 1,065,555 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.

The United States is followed by India and Brazil, which have recorded cases exceeding 44 million and 34 million respectively, as well as 527,289 and 682,560 deaths.

India reported 13,272 new cases of Covid-19 during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,327,890, according to federal health ministry data released on Saturday morning.

Saturday’s new cases marked a decrease in comparison to the daily caseload of Friday which was 15,754.

The country also logged 36 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the death toll to 527,289 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

In terms of the World Health Organization (WHO) regional offices, Europe and the Americas have so far reported more than 209 million and 151 million confirmed cases, as well as 1,964,786 and 2,711,779 deaths, respectively, reports Xinhua.

The two regions combined account for over 72 percent of the world’s total in confirmed cases and over 75 per cent of deaths.

As the weekly numbers of new Covid-19 cases and deaths have continued to decline according to the WHO statistics, the agency said on Wednesday that the pandemic remains a public health emergency of international concern, advising countries to be prepared to scale up Covid-19 response rapidly.

Covid in Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported zero Covid death and 100 new cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning.

While the country’s total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,315, the new cases took the caseload to 2,009,797, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The daily case test positivity rate increased to 4.42 per cent from Friday’s 3.32 per cent as 2,265 samples were tested.

The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 percent and the recovery rate rose to 97.19 per cent from Friday’s 97.18 per cent.