Global Covid cases top 354 million

A member of the public receives a Pfizer vaccine at a drive-through coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination clinic in Otara during a single-day vaccination drive, aimed at significantly increasing the percentage of vaccinated people in the country, in Auckland, New Zealand, 16 October, 2021Reuters

The overall number of Covid cases has surpassed 354 million amid the rise in Omicron infections across the globe, UNB reports.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 354,310,228 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,603,714 Tuesday morning.

The US has recorded 71,645,863 cases so far and 868,420 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 39,543,328 Monday, as 306,064 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry’s data.

Monday was the fifth consecutive day when over 300,000 new cases were registered in a day in the country in over eight months.

Besides, as many as 474 deaths were recorded since Saturday morning, taking the death toll to 489,896.

Meanwhile, the country’s Omicron tally reached 10,050 Monday. Most of the Omicron cases have been reported from the states of Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan and Delhi.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since last January, registered 24,134,946 cases as of Tuesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 623,412.

Covid situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh logged 15 more Covid deaths with 14,828 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.

The daily positivity rate rose to 32.37 per cent from Sunday’s 31.29 per cent after testing 45,807 samples, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The country logged its peak daily positivity rate of 32.55 per cent on 24 July last year, reporting 6,780 cases and 195 deaths.

Bangladesh last saw 15,776 cases on 3 August last year with 235 deaths.

The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,238 while the caseload mounted to 1,699,964 Monday.

Of the 79 deaths recorded from 17 January to 23 January, some 35.4 per cent received Covid vaccines while 64.6 per cent did not, the DGHS mentioned.

Among the new deceased, nine were men and six women.

Six cases were reported in Dhaka division while three in Mymensingh, two in Sylhet and one each in Chattogram, Rajshahi Khulna, and Barishal divisions.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate further declined to 1.66 per cent.

However, the recovery rate also declined further to 91.64 per cent with the recovery of 998 more patients during the 24-hour period.

Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 69 with the detection of five more cases till Sunday, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data.

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

The country reported this year’s first zero Covid death in a single day on 20 November last year 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 10 August last year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on 28 July last year.