Bangladesh logged 38 more Covid-linked deaths with 9,369 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning. The daily positivity rate slightly declined to 21.07 from Sunday’s 21.50 per cent after testing 44,471 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The number of deaths is highest in nearly six months as the country last recorded 43 deaths on September 19, last year with 1,383 cases and the daily positivity rate at 5.62 per cent. On Sunday, Bangladesh reported 29 more Covid-linked deaths with 8,345 fresh cases. The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,627while the caseload mounted to 1,870,901. Read: All to be fully vaccinated in Bangladesh by Dec: Health Minister Of the 226 deaths recorded from January 31 to February 6, some 28.8 per cent received Covid vaccines while 71.2  per cent did not, the DGHS mentioned. Comorbidities among the deceased patients declined 9.7 per cent this week compared to the previous one. Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient. Among the new deceased, 28 were men and 10 women. Sixteen of the deaths were reported in Dhaka division while six in Chattogram, five each in Rajshahi,and Khulna, three in Sylhet, two in Mymensingh, and one in Rangpur divisions.

The global Covid-19 caseload is fast approaching the grim milestone of 180 million, with the world still struggling to contain the second outbreak of the pandemic. The total caseload and fatalities from the virus stand at 179,530,592 and 3,890,152, respectively, as of Thursday morning, as per Johns Hopkins University (JHU). So far, 2,724,159,194 Covid vaccine doses have been administered across the globe, as per the university data. Also read: Experts warn of third wave of pandemic in India if health protocols ignored The US has logged 33,577,485 cases and 602,833 deaths to date, according to the university data. The death toll in the United States is the highest in the world. India's Covid-19 tally surpassed 30 million while the death toll topped 390,000 on Wednesday, said the federal health ministry. As many as 50,848 new cases and 1,358 deaths were registered across the country in the past 24 hours till Wednesday morning. Brazil on Wednesday reported a record daily high of 115,228 new Covid-19 cases, taking the national tally to 18,169,881, the Ministry of Health said. Some 2,392 more people died of Covid during the same period, raising the national death toll to 507,109. Covid-19 was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, in late 2019 but the outbreak spread quickly across the globe in the first two-three months of 2020. It was declared a global pandemic by the WHO on 11 March 2020. Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 85 more deaths, positivity rate crosses 20% Situation in Bangladesh Bangladesh on Wednesday logged 5,727 new Covid-19 cases in 24 hours, with a positivity rate of 20.27%. Besides, the deadly virus claimed the lives of 85 more people during the period, taking the national fatality tally to 13,787. The fresh cases have pushed up the total caseload to 8,66,877, according to the Directorate General of Health Services. Vaccine rollout Bangladesh on Monday started administering the first dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at three centers in Dhaka to fight off Covid. On May 27, the government approved the emergency use of the Pfizer vaccine in the country. On Saturday, Bangladesh started administering the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine across the country. The vaccination drive started across the country with 11 lakh doses of Sinopharm gifted by China, said the DGHS. Bangladesh is now administering the first doses of the Sinopharm and Pfizer vaccines and also the second dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Also read: Biden urges shots for young adults as variant concern grows As of now, 6722 people have received the first dose of the Sinopharm vaccine, while 242 people have got the second dose. Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses, 4,279,169 people have received the second shot and 5,820,015 the first one to date.