Amid the global scare over the rising Omicron cases, the overall number of coronavirus cases has surged past 304 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 304,858,775 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,484,079 Sunday morning.
The US has recorded 59,766,818 cases so far and more than 837,262 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.
Hospitalisations of US children under five with Covid-19 soared in recent weeks to their highest level since the pandemic began, according to government data released Friday on the only age group not yet eligible for the vaccine, reports AP.
The worrisome trend in children too young to be vaccinated underscores the need for older kids and adults to get their shots to help protect those around them, said Dr Rochelle Walensky, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Since mid-December, with the highly contagious Omicron variant spreading furiously around the country, the hospitalisation rate in these youngest kids has surged to more than four in 100,000 children, up from 2.5 per 100,000.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January last year, registered 22,328,252 cases as of Friday, while its Covid death toll rose to 619,654.
India’s Covid-19 tally rose to 35,368,372 on Sunday, as 141,986 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the health ministry’s latest data.
Besides, 327 more deaths were recorded since Saturday morning, taking the death toll to 483,790.
In India, 3,071 cases of Omicron variant were reported till Sunday morning of which 1,203 have recovered or migrated.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported another Covid-linked death and 1,116 fresh cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning, said health authorities.
With the detection of fresh cases after testing 19,275 samples, the daily-case positivity rose to 5.79 per cent from Friday’s 5.67 per cent during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,099 while the caseload mounted to 15,92, 209.
The mortality rate declined a bit to 1.76 per cent during the period from Friday’s 1.77 per cent.
Meanwhile, the recovery rate further declined to 97.39 per cent with the recovery of 154 more patients during the 24-hour period.
Bangladesh is currently seeing a surge of Covid-19 cases as health authorities logged 6,670 infections in last eight days since January 1.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 21 with detection of 11 cases on Friday, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data.
