Global Covid cases top 262 million

The overall number of Covid cases has surpassed 262 million amid concern of the emergence of a new variant, Omicron, in some countries, reports UNB.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 262,093,495 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,206,982 Tuesday morning.

The US has recorded 48,438,063 cases to date and more than 778,701 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, has registered 22,084,749 cases so far, while its Covid death toll rose to 614,428.

India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 34,583,597 on Sunday, as 8,309 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.

Besides, as many as 236 deaths due to the pandemic since Saturday morning took the total death toll to 468,790.

Russia registered 33,860 new coronavirus cases over the past 24 hours, taking the nationwide tally to 9,604,233, the official monitoring and response centre said Monday.

The nationwide death toll grew by 272,755, to 273,964 while the number of recoveries increased by 8,268,111 to 8,295,811.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday that it’s not yet clear whether Omicron easily spreads from person to person compared to other variants, even though the number of people testing positive has risen in South Africa where this variant was involved.

It’s also not yet clear whether Omicron causes more severe disease, but preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalisation in South Africa, which however may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, reports Xinhua.

WHO classified on Friday the latest variant B.1.1.529 of SARS-CoV-2 virus, now with the name Omicron, as a ‘Variant of Concern’ (VOC).

Situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh logged two more Covid-related deaths and 227 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.

With the latest cases, the daily case positivity rate rose to 1.34 per cent from Sunday’s 1.03 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,980 while the caseload mounted to 1,576,011.

Both the latest deceased were men, aged between 61 and 80, and were reported from the Dhaka division.

Of the 25 deaths recorded from 22 to 28 November, 12 per cent received Covid vaccines while 88 per cent did not, the directorate said.

The death rates in Covid-19 patients with comorbidities increased to 0.4 per cent this week compared to the previous one. Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.

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

The fresh cases were detected after testing 16,891 samples, the directorate added.

Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.75 per cent, with the recovery of 280 more patients during the 24-hour period.

On 20 November, Bangladesh logged this year’s first zero Covid death with 178 cases.

So far, 36,434,738 people have fully been vaccinated in the country, while 59,408,254 received the first dose as of Sunday, according to the directorate.

However, public health experts fear a slow pace of vaccination, waning vaccine immunity, disregard for Covid safety protocols, reopening of schools and increased travel may set the stage for another Covid wave in Bangladesh—a trend many European countries are witnessing now.