Global Covid cases near 259m

The overall number of Covid-19 cases is fast approaching to 259 million amid the global race to vaccinate people against the highly infectious disease, reports UNB.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 258,695,154 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,165,134 on Wednesday morning.

The US has recorded 47,980,076 cases to date and more than 773,738 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,030,182 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 612,842.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,526,480 on Wednesday as 2,515 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.

Besides, 156 deaths due to the pandemic since Tuesday morning took the country's total death toll to 465,991.

Bangladesh reported three more Covid-linked deaths and 284 fresh cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.

With this, the daily case positivity rate rose to 1.45 per cent Tuesday from Monday’s 1.42 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Among the deceased, two were men and one woman. One of the deceased was from Dhaka and two from Chattogram divisions.

With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,958 while the caseload mounted to 1,574,636.

However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent.

The fresh cases were detected after testing 19,781 samples, the directorate added.

Besides, the recovery rate remained static at 97.73 per cent, with the recovery of 318 more patients during the 24-hour period.

On Saturday, Bangladesh logged zero Covid-linked deaths with 178 cases.

So far, 3,51,20,061 people have fully been vaccinated in the country, while 5,52,99,550 received the first dose as of Monday, according to the directorate.