Global Covid-19 cases near 199 million

The overall number of global Covid cases is fast approaching the 199-million mark as different countries continue their battle against the deadlier Delta variant of coronavirus amid slow vaccination rate.

According to US-based Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 198,891,340 while the death toll from the virus reached 4,235,449 on Tuesday morning.

So far, 4,146,057,456 vaccine doses have been administered across the globe.

The US, which is the world's worst-hit country in terms of both cases and deaths, has so far logged 35,131,393 cases. Besides, 613,679 people have lost their lives in the US to date, as per the JHU data.

According to AP, the US on Monday finally reached President Joe Biden's goal of getting at least one Covid-19 shot into 70 per cent of American adults -- a month late and amid a fierce surge by the Delta variant that is swamping hospitals and leading to new mask rules and mandatory vaccinations around the country.

Brazil recorded 389 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours, raising its national death toll to 557,223, the health ministry said on Monday.

Meanwhile, the total caseload rose to 19,953,501 after 15,143 new cases were detected.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 31,695,958 on Monday as 40,134 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the federal health ministry's latest data.

Besides, as many as 422 deaths due to the pandemic have been reported since Sunday morning, taking the total death toll to 424,773.

Although the situation in Europe is improving, globally, it is worsening as the Delta variant of Covid-19 has now been detected in 124 territories worldwide, says the World Health Organization (WHO).

Situation in Bangladesh

The scale of the Covid-19 pandemic in Bangladesh looks to be overwhelming as the country added 246 fatalities to its national tally on Monday, reporting over 200 single-day fatalities for the last nine days.

The rapid rise in cases and fatalities, driven by the Delta variant, shows the worst days of the pandemic are far from over here since the pace of hospitalisation across the country remains relentless.

The Covid-19 infections are at their peak now, with 14,241 new cases reported on an average each day.

Bangladesh recorded 15,989 new cases on Monday after testing 53,462 samples, up from 13,862 logged on July 30.

The country reported the highest daily Covid-19 fatality number - 258 - on July 27 and 16,230 infections the next day.

There have been 1,280,317 infections and 21,262 coronavirus-related deaths here since the pandemic began, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.

Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate fell to 29.91 per cent from Sunday's 29.97 per cent, while the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5 per cent or below rate.

However, the recovery rate rose to 86.60 per cent, and the case fatality remained unchanged at 1.65 per cent compared to the same period.

Amid growing concerns about the highly infectious Delta variant, Dhaka division reported the highest 76 deaths, Chattogram 64, Khulna 30, Rajshahi 22, Barishal 16, Sylhet and Rangpur 14 each, and Mymensingh 10.

So far, Bangladesh has administered at least 13,459,811 doses of Covid vaccines - enough to have vaccinated around 4 per cent of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses.

Logging highest 6,182 deaths and 336,226 new cases, July has become the most fatal month since the reporting of first Covid cases in the country in March 2020.