The overall number of global Covid cases is fast approaching 271 million amid the spread of the Omicron variant in several western countries.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 270,126,616 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,311,561 Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 50,118,307 cases so far and more than 798,697 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 22,191,949 cases as of Tuesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 616,980.
India has registered 7,350 new cases of Covid-19 during a 24 hours period, bringing the total caseload to 34,703,508, as per the health ministry figures released Monday.
The ministry also reported 202 more deaths during the same period, taking the total death toll to 475,640.
Three new cases of Omicron were reported in India on Monday — two in Maharashtra (one each in Latur and Pune) and one in Gujarat’s Surat – taking the total tally of the new Covid variant in the country to 41.
Meanwhile, the UK reported the first death of a patient infected with Omicron on Monday. Long lines formed Monday at vaccination centres across England as people heeded the government’s call for all adults to get booster shots to protect themselves against the variant.
The UK, as of Tuesday morning, logged 10,935,244 Covid-19 cases, while the fatalities mounted to 146,935.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported three more Covid-linked deaths with 385 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning amid the fear of Omicron variant escalation.
On Sunday, the country logged 329 cases and six Covid-related deaths.
With the latest figures, the daily case positivity rate rose again to 1.72 percent from Sunday’s 1.52 percent, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said.
The total fatalities mounted to 28,031 while the caseload mounted to 15,79, 710 with the fresh cases.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent during the period.
Of the 27 deaths recorded from December 6 to December 12, 18.5 percent received Covid jabs while 81.5 percent did not, the directorate said.
Two of the latest deceased were men and one was a woman. The fresh cases, on the other hand, were detected after testing 21,037 samples, according to the directorate.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.77 percent with the recovery of 267 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On December 9, 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 November 20 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 August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
However, some of the leading public health experts in Bangladesh have warned that the current trend of plummeting Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh could well be the obvious calm before a cataclysmic storm.
Their fears center around children below 12 who remain out of the vaccine coverage and the elderly people.
These experts fear a slow pace of vaccination, waning vaccine immunity, sheer 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.
Source: United News of Bangladesh