The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 259 million amid the global race to vaccinate masses against the infectious disease.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 259,380,413 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,173,924, Thursday morning.

The US has recorded 48,090,894 cases to date and more than 775,369 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.

Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,043,112 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 613,339.

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India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,535,763 on Wednesday, as 9,283 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.

Besides, 437 deaths due to the pandemic since Tuesday morning took the total death toll to 466,584.

The World Health Organization’s Europe office says projections show its 53-country region could face another 700,000 deaths in the pandemic by next spring, topping two million in total, reports AP.

WHO Europe, which is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, also cited growing evidence of a decline in protection against infection and mild disease through vaccines, and said a “booster dose” should be given as a priority to the most vulnerable populations -- including people with weakened immune systems -- as well as people over age 60 and healthcare workers.

Read: As virus surges in Eastern Europe, leaders slow to act

The UN health agency’s international headquarters in Geneva, however, has repeatedly called for a moratorium on the use of boosters through year-end so that doses can be made available for many developing countries that have faced a severe lack of the Covid vaccines compared to the rich world.

Situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh reported three more Covid-linked deaths for the second consecutive day along with 312 fresh cases in 24 hours till Wednesday morning.

With this, the daily case positivity rate rose to 1.49 percent on Wednesday from Tuesday’s 1.45 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The positivity rate kept rising for the last three days as it was 1.42 percent on Monday and 1.16 on Sunday.

Among the deceased, two were women and one was a man. Each of the deceased was from Chattogram, Rajshahi and Khulna divisions.

With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,961 while the caseload mounted to 1,574,948.

However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 percent.

The fresh cases were detected after testing 20,770 samples, the directorate added.

Besides, the recovery rate remained static at 97.73 percent, with the recovery of 338 more patients during the 24-hour period.

On Saturday, Bangladesh logged zero Covid-linked deaths with 178 cases.

So far, 3,54,14,244 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 5,64,02,543 received the first dose as of Tuesday, according to the directorate.