The overall number of Covid cases has surged past 254 million amid the global race to vaccinate masses against the infectious disease. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 254,289,204 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,113,864 Wednesday morning. The US has recorded 47,307,829 cases to date and more than 765,731 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data. Read: Pfizer asks US officials to OK promising COVID-19 pill India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,447,536 on Tuesday, as 8,865 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data. Besides, 187 deaths due to the pandemic since Monday morning took the total death toll to 463,852. Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 21,965,684 cases as of Wednesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 611,478. UK has recorded 9,686,190 cases with fatalities of 143,598 so far. Read: US gives final clearance to COVID-19 shots for kids 5 to 11 For two months now, a stubborn wave of virus infections has ripped mercilessly through several countries in Central and Eastern Europe, where vaccination rates are much lower than elsewhere on the continent, reports AP. While medical workers pleaded for tough restrictions or even lockdowns, leaders let the virus rage unimpeded for weeks. “I don’t believe in measures. I don’t believe in the same measures that existed before the vaccines,” Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic said last month as the Balkan nation sustained some of its worst daily death toll of the pandemic. “Why do we have vaccines then?” A World Health Organization official declared earlier this month that Europe is again at the epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic. While several Western European countries are seeing spikes in infections, it is nations to the East that are driving fatalities. Read: Covid claims 2 more lives and infects 213 in Bangladesh Romania, Bulgaria and the Balkan states recorded some of the highest per capita death rates in the world in the first week of November, according to WHO. Covid-19 in Bangladesh Bangladesh recorded two more Covid-linked deaths and 213 fresh infections in 24 hours until Tuesday morning, authorities said. The daily case positivity rate slightly dropped to 1.03 percent from Monday’s 1.32 percent. The fresh numbers took the total fatalities to 27,922 while the country’s caseload mounted to 15,72,501, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Read: Anti-Covid pill likely to get approved in India soon, DCGI reviewing data However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 percent, according to DGHS. The fresh cases were detected after testing 20,764 samples, it said. Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.71 percent, with the recovery of 223 more patients during the 24-hour period.