Shawdesh desk:

The overall number of Covid cases has surpassed 369 million amid a surge in Omicron infections across the globe.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 369,440,775 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,648,611 Saturday morning.

The US has recorded 74,058,529 cases so far and 882,275 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.

Omicron, the highly contagious coronavirus variant sweeping across the country, is driving the daily American death toll higher than during last fall’s Delta wave, with deaths likely to keep rising for days or even weeks, reports AP.

The seven-day rolling average for daily new Covid-19 deaths in the US has been climbing since mid-November, reaching 2,267 on Thursday and surpassing a September peak of 2,100 when Delta was the dominant variant.

Now Omicron is estimated to account for nearly all the virus circulating in the nation. And even though it causes less severe disease for most people, the fact that it is more transmissible means more people are falling ill and dying.

India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 40,622,709 on Friday, with 251,209 new confirmed cases registered in 24 hours, as per the health ministry’s latest data.

Besides, 627 deaths reported due to the pandemic since Thursday morning took the total death toll to 492,327.

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 25,050,601 cases as of Friday, while its Covid death toll rose to 626,170.

Situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported 20 more Covid-linked deaths with 15,440 fresh cases in 24 hours till Friday morning.

The daily positivity rate rose to highest-ever 33.37% from Thursday’s 31.98% after testing 46,292 samples, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The country logged its highest daily positivity rate at 32.55% on July 24 last year, reporting 6,780 cases and 195 deaths.

On Thursday, the country reported 15 more Covid-linked deaths and 15,807 fresh cases.

The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,308 while the caseload mounted to 1,762,771.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate further declined to 1.61%.