Global Covid-19 cases near 142 million, deaths top 3 million

The Covid-19 situation is worsening around the world with each passing day, despite mass vaccinations.

While the global death toll from the virus has already topped three million, the total case count is fast nearing the grim milestone of 142 million, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

To be specific, the total caseload reached 141,819,360 while the fatalities climbed to 3,027,353 on Tuesday morning.

The US has logged 31,737,347 cases and 567,960 deaths to date.

The US remains the world’s worst-hit country in terms of cases and deaths respectively. However, deaths in the US are down to about 700 per day on an average, plummeting from a mid-January peak of about 3,400, reports AP.

Brazil's Covid-19 death toll on Monday reached 374,682 while the total number of cases in the South American country mounted to 13,973,695, as per the university data.

In neighbouring India, the total Covid-19 case count has surpassed 15 million.

The national tally of the country stands at 15,061,919 and the death toll at 178,769 as of Tuesday morning, according to official figures released by the government.

Situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh again broke all previous records of Covid-19 deaths, registering 112 fatalities in 24 hours till Monday morning.

The country saw over 100 deaths for the fourth consecutive day.

The latest fatalities pushed up the death tally to 10,497 with a mortality rate of 1.45 percent, according to a handout from the Directorate General of Health Services.

Besides, 4,271 new cases were reported during the period after testing 24,152 samples. The infection rate was 17.68 percent, down from 19.06 percent on Sunday.

Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8, 2020, and the first death on March 18 that year.

The health authorities have so far confirmed 723,221 cases. Among them, 621,300 people -- 85.91 percent of all patients -- have recovered.

The virus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.

The government has decided to extend the ongoing lockdown by another week from April 22.

Vaccination drive

Bangladesh inked an agreement with the Serum Institute of India for acquiring 30 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine.

A countrywide inoculation drive was launched on February 7.

So far, 57,14,090 people have received the first dose of the vaccine and 13,66,609 have got their second jab, according to official figures.

There are growing calls for speeding up the vaccination programme as hospitals are flooded with patients.