The global Covid-19 caseload has surpassed 215 million with the world still struggling to contain the pandemic fueled by new variants. According to Johns Hopkins University, the overall death toll from coronavirus stood at 4,485,336 globally, while the total cases mounted to 215, 386,075  as of Saturday morning. The US is the worst-hit country, with the world’s highest number of cases and deaths at 38,702,782 and 636,679, respectively, according to the university data. About 1,100 people are dying daily of COVID-19 in the United States, the most since mid-March, according to Johns Hopkins University data. About 85,000 people were hospitalized with the illness nationwide early this week, CDC data shows, the highest total since the post-holiday surge in early February, reports AP. Read: Myanmar: Expert calls for “COVID ceasefire”; urges new UN resolution The surge is largely fueled by highly contagious delta variant among people who are not vaccinated. Brazil is currently seeing a second wave of COVID-19 outbreaks, with a significant increase in cases since December that has pushed the public healthcare system to the brink of collapse in several regions. The country confirmed 20, 703,906 cases with 578,326 deaths as of Saturday morning. India comes second in terms of Covid cases, with 32,603,188, while the country’s death toll soared to 436,861 this morning, according to the Health Ministry. Situation in Bangladesh The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 and dying from the virus has continued to fall in Bangladesh, the latest daily figures show. Bangladesh added 117 new fatalities to its national tally Friday – down from 145 logged a week earlier on August 20. Read:DGHS closes 11 private Covid testing booths in Rooppur due to irregularities The average number of Covid-related fatalities confirmed each day has dropped by more than 110 over the last three weeks, 46% of the previous peak. It recorded 3,525 new cases Friday after testing 27,578 samples, down from 5,993 logged a week earlier on August 20. The country has been experiencing a surge of Covid-related caseloads and deaths since June 2021. Since the start of the Covid pandemic, Bangladesh has recorded 14,86,153 infections and 25,846 deaths, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. Read:Govt to vaccinate Rohingyas gradually starting with above-55s: Foreign Secretary The government has administered at least 25,258,519 doses of Covid vaccines – enough to have vaccinated around 7.4% of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses.  

 As Covid-19 cases keep rising  day by day in the world, over 162 million people have so far been infected with the deadly virus. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total caseload from the virus reached 162,203,982 while the death toll mounted to 3,365,081 as of Sunday morning. Some 1,436,372, 607 doses of vaccines have been administered around the world till date, said JHU. The Covid-19 cases in the US, which remained the world’s worst-hit country, is approaching 33 million cases as a total of 32,923,613 people have been found infected with the virus in the country alone with 585,704 fatalities. India is holding the second position in terms of the number of cases. With shortage of oxygen and bed crisis at hospitals India has been experiencing a staggering situation of Covid-19 for the past several weeks that has shaken the health system of the country. India has logged 24,372,907 cases with 266,207 deaths. Also Read:Vaccine deserts: Some countries have no COVID-19 jabs at all Brazil on Saturday reported 2,087 more deaths from COVID-19, raising the national count to 434,715, the Ministry of Health said. Meanwhile, 67,009 more infections were detected, raising the nationwide tally to 15,586,534. Brazil has the world's second highest COVID-19 death toll, after the United States, and the third largest caseload, following the United States and India.  Situation in Bangladesh Covid-19 claimed 22 more lives in Bangladesh in the past 24 hours until Saturday morning which is the lowest daily deaths in nearly two months. The country saw 26 Covid deaths on Friday and 31 on Thursday.  Also Read: Beware of Indian covid variant: Quader With the latest deaths logged today, the official Covid-related death count in the country reached 12,124. However, the mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.55%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The country witnessed a sharp drop in the number of new cases as the tests have declined dramatically. Only 261 infections were logged in the last 24 hours after examining 3,758 samples during the period. The country also confirmed 779,796 Covid-19 cases in total, says the DGHS handout. Lockdown extended till May 23 The government is going to extend the ongoing lockdown for another week until May 23 to stem the spread of Covid-19. “The ongoing restrictions will be extended for another week and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given approval to it. A notification will be issued on Sunday,”  State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain told UNB on Friday.  

The global Covid caseload has now surged past 113 million, despite high rates of vaccination in several countries.