The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 264 million amid the global scare over the new Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 264,130,163 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,233,846 Friday morning.

Omicron raised alarm because of its sheer number of mutations, more than prior variants had. Possibly 30 are in a key place, the spike protein that lets the virus attach to human cells, reports AP.

The US has recorded 48,832,302 cases to date and more than 785,907 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.

The US recorded its first confirmed case of the Omicron variant Wednesday — in a vaccinated traveller who returned to California after a trip to South Africa — as scientists around the world race to establish whether the new, mutant version of the coronavirus is more dangerous than previous ones, reports AP.

Also read: India reports first two Covid cases of Omicron variant

Dr Anthony Fauci, the United States’ top infectious disease expert, announced the finding at the White House.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,118,782 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 615,225.

Brazil on Wednesday reported its third case of Omicron, after a Brazilian national who arrived from eastern Africa over the weekend tested positive.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,609,741 on Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 469,724.

India Thursday reported its first two known Covid-19 cases of the Omicron variant, discovered in two men aged 46 and 66, respectively, in the southern state of Karnataka, Indian Health Ministry's joint secretary Lav Agarwal told the media in the national capital.

Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that 23 countries across the world have reported cases of the highly mutated Omicron Covid-19 variant.

Also read: Bangladesh reports 3 more Covid-linked deaths

Situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh logged three more Covid-linked deaths and 261 fresh cases in 24 hours till Thursday morning.

With the latest cases, the daily case positivity rate declined to 1.24 percent from Tuesday’s 1.50 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,986 while the caseload mounted to 15,76,827.

Among the latest deceased, two were women and another was a man. The deaths were reported from the Dhaka, Mymensingh and Khulna divisions.

However, the mortality rate declined to 1.77 percent.

The fresh cases were detected after testing 21,244 samples, amid the growing concern over the new Omicron variant.

Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.77 percent with the recovery of 313 more patients during the 24-hour period.

On November 20, Bangladesh logged this year’s first zero Covid-linked death with 178 cases.

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.

So far, 3,72,68,384 people have fully been vaccinated in the country, while 6,27,33,739 received the first dose as of Wednesday, according to the directorate.

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