Global Covid cases top 569 million

The overall number of Covid cases has now surged past 569 million amid a rise in new infections in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe, UNB reports.

According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 569,564,431 and the death toll reached 6,391,619 Wednesday morning.

The US has recorded 91,529,862 cases so far and 1,049,683 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.

India recorded 15,528 cases of Covid in 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,783,062 in the country, according to the health ministry data released on Tuesday.

The country also logged 25 related deaths during this period, which has pushed the overall toll to 525,785 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

The detection of a more contagious Omicron mutant, BA.2.75, which is gaining ground in India, has worried health officials. They feared that the new mutant may be able to spread rapidly.

The Indian government has focussed on promoting booster doses as the uptake for the third dose has been low. The drive to provide free booster doses of Covid vaccine to all adults at government centres began on Friday.

Covid situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh registered eight more Covid deaths with 879 cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.

With the latest figures, the country’s total fatalities reached 29,249 and the caseload 1,998,291, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Of the deceased, seven were men and one was a woman. The deceased were from Dhaka, Khulna, Rangpur and Mymensingh divisions.

The daily case positivity rate declined to 9.66 per cent from Monday’s 9.77 per cent as 9,099 samples were tested.

The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 per cent. The recovery rate rose to 96.51 per cent from Monday’s 96.47 per cent.

In June, the country reported 18 Covid deaths and 20,201 new cases, according to the DGHS.

Bangladesh reported its first zero Covid death on 20 November last year since the pandemic broke out here in March 2020.

The country registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on 28 July last year and daily fatalities of 264 on 10 August in the same year.