Amid a global scare over the new strain of Covid-19, the overall number of coronavirus cases has surged past 269 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 269,110,185 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,294,933 Saturday morning.
The US has recorded 49,833,432 cases to date and more than 796,749 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 22,177,059 cases as of Friday, while its Covid death toll rose to 616,457.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,674,643 on Friday as 8,503 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data.
Besides, as many as 624 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Thursday morning, taking the total death toll to 474,479.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged only one Covid-related death and 269 fresh cases in 24 hours till Friday morning.
With the latest cases, the daily case positivity rate increased to 1.34 percent from Thursday’s 1.22 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The total fatalities mounted to 28,017 while the caseload mounted to 15,78 819, with the fresh number of cases.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent during the period.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 20,066 samples.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.78 percent, with the recovery of 249 more patients during the 24-hour period.
Read: Omicron brings COVID-19 vaccine inequity 'home to roost'
On Thursday, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic is apparently showing signs of easing amid the emergence of the Omicron variant.
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.
So far, 4,20,43,323 people have fully been vaccinated in the country, while 6,62,87,396 received the first dose as of Thursday, according to the directorate.
Among them, 2,07,010 students aged from 12 to 17 have fully been vaccinated, while 11,89,540 students received the first dose so far.
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 centre around children below 12 who remain out of the vaccine coverage and the elderly people.