Global Covid cases surpass 281 million

The overall number of global coronavirus cases has now surged past 281 million, with the new Covid strain Omicron showing a spike in hospitalisation, reports UNB.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 281,355,162 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,406,194 Tuesday morning.

The US has recorded 52,776,066 cases so far and more than 818,367 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,249,466 cases as of Friday, while its Covid death toll rose to 618,815.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,799,241 on Monday, as 6,531 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the health ministry data.

Besides, as many as 315 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Saturday morning, taking the total toll to 480,018.

The number of Omicron cases has risen to 578 in the country and at least 151 have recovered, the health ministry said.

Bangladesh logged another Covid-linked death and 373 fresh infections in 24 hours till Monday morning.

With the detection of the fresh cases after testing 17, 271 samples, the daily case positivity rate rose to 2.16 per cent from Sunday’s 1.57 per cent during the period, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.

The latest deceased was a woman aged between 51 and 60 years from the Dhaka division.

The fresh number reported on Monday took the country’s total fatalities to 28,061 while the caseload mounted to 1,583,626.

Of the 12 deaths recorded from 20 to 26 December, some 8.3 per cent received Covid jabs while 92.7 per cent did not, according to the directorate.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period. Besides, the recovery rate declined a bit to 97.73 per cent with the recovery of 323 more patients during the 24-hour period.

On Sunday, Bangladesh logged four Covid-linked deaths with 268 fresh infections in 24 hours.

Though the deaths remained below five since 13 December, the daily cases remained mostly over 250, according to data provided by the directorate.

On 9 December, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.

The country reported this year's first zero Covid-related death in a single day on 20 November along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.

Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on 5 August this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on 28 July this year.