The overall number of Covid cases is fast approaching 263 million amid the global race to vaccinate masses against the infectious disease. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 262,735,124 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,214,863 Wednesday morning. The US has recorded 48,554,890 cases to date and more than 780,140 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data. Read: Global Covid cases top 262 million Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, has registered 22,094,459 cases so far, while its Covid death toll rose to 614,681. India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,587,822 on Wednesday, as 4,225 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry data. Besides, another 190 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Wednesday morning, taking the total death toll to 468,790. Meanwhile, the World Health Organization (WHO) said that it's not yet clear whether Omicron easily spreads from person to person compared to other variants, even though the number of people testing positive has risen in South Africa where this variant was involved. It's also not yet clear whether Omicron causes more severe disease, but preliminary data suggests that there are increasing rates of hospitalisation in South Africa, which however may be due to increasing overall numbers of people becoming infected, reports Xinhua. WHO classified on Friday the latest variant B.1.1.529 of SARS-CoV-2 virus, now with the name Omicron, as a ‘Variant of Concern’ (VOC). Covid-19 in Bangladesh Bangladesh logged one Covid-linked death along with 273 fresh cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning amid the growing concern over the new ‘Omicron’ variant of coronavirus. With the latest cases, the daily case positivity rate rose to 1.38 percent from Monday’s 1.34 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).  Read: Omicron: What we know about the COVID-19 Variant so far With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,981 while the caseload mounted to 15,76,284. The latest deceased was a woman in her 60s and was from the Dhaka division. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 percent. The fresh cases were detected after testing 19,924 samples, the directorate added. Besides, the recovery rate increased to 97.76 percent, with the recovery of 368 more patients during the 24-hour period. On November 20, Bangladesh logged this year’s first zero Covid-linked death with 178 cases. So far, 3,66,82,766 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 6,02,36,018 received the first dose as of Monday, according to the directorate. However, public health experts fear a slow pace of vaccination, waning vaccine immunity, disregard for Covid safety protocols, reopening of schools and increased travel may set the stage for another Covid wave in Bangladesh -- a trend many European countries are witnessing now.