Amid the global scare over the rising Omicron cases, the overall number of Covid cases has now surpassed 330 million. According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 330,275,734 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,544,688 Tuesday morning. The US has recorded 66,375,579 cases so far and 851,451 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows. India's Covid-19 tally rose to 37,380,253 Monday, as 258,089 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the health ministry's latest data. This is the fifth consecutive day when more than 200,000 daily new cases were registered in the country. Besides, as many as 385 deaths due to the pandemic since Sunday morning took the total death toll to 486,451. Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since last January, registered 23,089,509 cases as of Monday, while its Covid death toll rose to 621,478. Situation in Bangladesh Bangladesh reported 10 more Covid-linked deaths, with 6,676 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning, following a sharp rise in its infection rate. The positivity rate in the country jumped to 20.88% during the period from Sunday’s 17.82% after the testing of 31,980 samples, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The country last logged 7,248 cases and 172 deaths on August 18, 2021, with a positivity rate at 17.67% in 24 hours. Also read: WHO: Record weekly jump in COVID-19 cases but fewer deaths Bangladesh is currently seeing a surge of Covid-19 cases as health authorities registered 38,478 infections in the last 16 days since January 1. The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,154 while the caseload mounted to 1,624,387 Monday. The mortality rate declined a bit to 1.73%. The recovery rate further declined to 95.62% with the recovery of 427 more patients during the period. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 55, with the detection of 22 more cases till Monday, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data. On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing. Also read: Covid surge in Bangladesh: 5,000 get infected in just one week The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year, 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 10 last year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 in 2021.  

Twenty two more cases of Omicron variant of the coronavirus have been detected in Bangladesh, taking the total tally to 55 till Sunday, according to GISAID, the global database for genomic data on the coronavirus. These Omicron cases were detected at the virology laboratory of International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, (icddr,b). icddr,b shared the report with GISAID on Sunday. Read: Omicron exposes inflexibility of Europe's public hospitals Earlier, three new Omicron cases were detected in the country on January 10. On December 11, Bangladesh reported its first two cases of the Omicron variant in two members of the Bangladesh women cricket team. They had returned from Zimbabwe after taking part in the ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers. The event was, however, called off midway due to the surge of Omicron. Meanwhile, Bangladesh logged eight more Covid-linked deaths with 5,222 more infections in 24 hours till Sunday morning. Read: Tough Covid curbs back in Bangladesh amid Omicron scare With the fresh cases reported after testing 29,642 samples, the daily positivity rate increased to 17.82 per cent from Saturday’s 14.35 per cent during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,144 while the caseload mounted to 1,617,711 on Sunday.

Amid a new surge in the virus Bangladesh reported another covid-linked death and 1,146 fresh cases in 24 hours till Friday morning, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). With the detection of fresh cases after testing 20,890 samples, the daily-case positivity rose to 5.67 per cent from Thursday’s 4.86 per cent during the period, according to the DGHS. The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,098 while the caseload mounted to 15,91,093. Read: WHO: Record weekly jump in COVID-19 cases but fewer deaths The mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period. Besides, the recovery rate further declined to 97.45 per cent with the recovery of 170 more patients during the 24-hour period. Bangladesh is currently seeing a surge of Covid-19 cases as health authorities logged 5,557 infections in the last seven days till Friday morning. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 20 with detection of ten cases on Friday, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data. Bangladesh’s daily cases last crossed 1,100 on September 29, 2021 with the registering of 1,178 cases and 17 deaths. Read: Covid surge in Bangladesh: 5,000 get infected in just one week On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing. The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020. Bangladesh logged the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 last year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 last year.

Ten more cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been detected in Bangladesh, taking the total tally to 20 till Friday, according to GISAID, the global database for genomic data on the coronavirus. On December 11, Bangladesh reported its first two cases of the Omicron variant in two members of the Bangladesh women cricket team. They had returned from Zimbabwe after taking part in the ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers. The event was, however, called off midway due to the surge of Omicron. The GISAID findings were based on the data submitted by the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (ideSHi) in Dhaka. Also read: Police HQ issues guidelines to protect force from Omicron Working in partnership with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research and icddr,b, the infectious diseases laboratory at ideSHi has begun processing Covid-19 test samples from patients across Bangladesh. Bangladesh is currently seeing a surge of Covid-19 cases as health authorities logged 4,920 infections in the last seven days till Thursday morning. The country reported seven more deaths and 1,140 fresh cases in 24 hours till Thursday morning, said the directorate. On January 2, the directorate said that women are more vulnerable to the newly emerged Covid-19 variant Omicron across the globe than men. Also read: Women more vulnerable to Omicron than men: DGHS Research data collected from countries like South Africa where the new variant has spread is showing this trend, DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin had said at a briefing on Covid-19. “Data found in South Africa where the variant was detected first is showing a different trend -- women, children and youths are being infected more."

Bangladesh reported 775 more Covid-19 infections with six more deaths linked to it in 24 hours till Tuesday morning. The country’s daily cases crossed 700 last on October 6, 2021 with the logging of 703 cases and 23 deaths. With the detection of fresh cases after testing 19,740 samples, the daily case positivity rose to 3.91 per cent from Monday’s 3.37 per cent during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Raed:New restrictions soon to fight off Covid: Health Minister The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,087 while the caseload mounted to 15,87,915. Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period. Besides, the recovery rate further declined to 97.61 per cent with the recovery of 185 more patients during the 24-hour period. Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases stood at 10 with detection of three cases on Friday, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data. On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing. 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 10 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year. Read:Women more vulnerable to Omicron than men: DGHS Restrictions Meanwhile, the government is going to put some restrictions amid the surge in Covid-19 cases, including plying public transport at their half capacities and closing shops and markets by 8pm, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Tuesday. “Public buses will operate at half of their capacities while shops and shopping malls will have to be closed by 8 pm instead of 10 pm,” Maleque said while talking to reporters at the Secretariat. Deputy Commissioners have been asked to enforce the directives within seven days, he added. However, the government is not considering any lockdown in the country right now and it will think about it if the infection rate goes up further, said the health minister.

Two more Covid cases of the Omicron variant have been detected in Bangladesh, raising the total tally to four. According to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data, shared the results on Tuesday. Read: India's Omicron tally crosses 350 An official at the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the two new Omicron cases    On December 11, Bangladesh reported its first two cases of the Omicron variant in two members of the Bangladesh women cricket team. They returned from Zimbabwe after taking part in the ICC Women's World Cup Qualifiers. The event was, however, called off midway due to the surge of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. After coming back to Dhaka, they were isolated in a hotel.  Read: French kids line up to get vaccine shots as omicron spreads On December 6, the health department confirmed that two women cricketers were Covid-positive. However, on December 20, Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) confirmed both the players tested negative for Covid.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson warned Sunday that Britain faces a “tidal wave” of infections from the omicron coronavirus variant, and announced a huge increase in booster vaccinations to strengthen defenses against it. In a televised statement, Johnson said everyone age 18 and older will be offered a third shot of vaccine by the end of this month in response to the omicron “emergency.” The previous target was the end of January. He said cases of the highly transmissible variant are doubling every two to three days in Britain, and “there is a tidal wave of omicron coming.” Read: Pfizer says COVID booster offers protection against omicron ”And I’m afraid it is now clear that two doses of vaccine are simply not enough to give the level of protection we all need,” Johnson said. “But the good news is that our scientists are confident that with a third dose – a booster dose – we can all bring our level of protection back up.” He announced a “national mission” to deliver booster vaccines, with pop-up vaccination centers and seven-day-a-week getting extra support from teams of military planners and thousands of volunteer vaccinators. Johnson’s Dec. 31 target applies to England. The other parts of the U.K. — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — are also expected to speed up their vaccination campaigns. The U.K. Health Security Agency says existing vaccines appear less effective in preventing symptomatic infections in people exposed to omicron, though preliminary data show that effectiveness appears to rise to between 70% and 75% after a third vaccine dose. More than 80% of people age 12 and up in Britain have received two doses of vaccine, and 40% of adults have had three doses. Giving the rest a booster in the next three weeks will be a huge challenge, requiring almost 1 million doses delivered a day. Johnson acknowledged that many routine medical procedures would have to be postponed to meet the goal. Johnson's announcement came hours after the government raised the country’s official coronavirus threat level, warning the rapid spread of the omicron variant had pushed the U.K. into risky territory. The chief medical officers of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland said the 1of the highly transmissible new strain “adds additional and rapidly increasing risk to the public and health care services” at a time when COVID-19 is already widespread. They recommended raising the alert level from 3 to 4 on a 5-point scale. The top level, 5, indicates authorities think the health care system is about to be overwhelmed. The doctors said early evidence shows omicron is spreading much faster than the currently dominant delta variant, and that vaccines offer less protection against it. British officials say omicron is likely to replace delta as the dominant strain in the U.K. within days. “Data on severity will become clearer over the coming weeks but hospitalizations from omicron are already occurring and these are likely to increase rapidly,” they said. Concerns about the new variant led Johnson’s Conservative government to reintroduce restrictions that were lifted almost six months ago. Masks must be worn in most indoor settings, COVID-19 certificates must be shown to enter nightclubs and people are being urged to work from home if possible. Read: Scientist behind UK vaccine says next pandemic may be worse Many scientists say that’s unlikely to be enough, however, and are calling for tougher measures, which the government so far has resisted. Scientists in South Africa, where omicron was first identified, say they see signs it may cause less severe disease than delta, but caution that it is too soon to be certain.

India's Omicron cases have risen to 21, with as many as 17 people testing positive for this new variant of Covid across the country in 24 hours, officials said Monday. This is a sharp spike of 19 cases of the Omicron variant in just four days, despite the country ramping up efforts to contain its spead. India Thursday reported its first two known Omicron variant cases, discovered in two men in Karnataka state. "In 24 hours till Sunday night, nine people in the northwestern Indian city of Jaipur, seven in the western city of Pune and a 37-year-old fully vaccinated man who arrived in the national capital from Tanzania tested positive for the new variant," an official said. Read:India reports first two Covid cases of Omicron variant Omicron has been classified as "a variant of concern" by the World Health Organisation. It was first discovered in South Africa. Meanwhile, on Monday, India logged a total of 8,306 new Covid cases in 24 hours, taking the total caseload to 3,46,41,561, according to the latest Health Ministry data. Last week, the Indian government backtracked on its decision to resume regular international flights from December 15, following an advice from Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Indian government put curbs on all domestic and international flights in March last year in the wake of the Covid-induced lockdown. However, it allowed domestic flights from May 2020, and the entry of all foreigners except tourists from October that year.