Global coronavirus cases surpass 124 million


FE Team | Published: March 24, 2021 13:48:37 | Updated: March 24, 2021 18:22:22


Global coronavirus cases surpass 124 million

With the Covid-19 situation worsening around the world, the global caseload crossed 124 million on Wednesday.

According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the global Covid-19 tally and fatalities now stand at 124,143,841 and 2,733,380, respectively, reports UNB.

The US has recorded the highest number of cases and deaths since the beginning of the pandemic. The North American country's case count and deaths now stand at 29,920,561 and 543,793, respectively, as per the latest university data.

Brazil reported more than 3,000 Covid-19 deaths in a single day for the first time on Tuesday, amid calls for the government and the new health minister to take action to stem the nation’s resurgence of coronavirus infections, reports AP.

In recent weeks, Latin America’s largest country has become the pandemic’s global epicentre, with more deaths from the virus each day than in any other nation.

Tuesday’s record toll of 3,251 deaths was driven by the state of Sao Paulo, Brazil’s most populous, which recorded 1,021 new fatalities, far above the previous high of 713 last July.

The total case count reached 12,130,091 while deaths climbed to 298,676 on Wednesday morning.

Brazil is one of the countries hardest hit by the virus worldwide in terms of both deaths and cases, second only to the United States.

India's Covid-19 tally reached 11,686,796 on Wednesday, as 40,715 new cases were reported from across the country.

Besides, 199 deaths since Monday morning took the toll to 160,166, showing the highest number of fatalities in a day this year so far.

Situation in Bangladesh

Some 3,554 people were diagnosed with Covid-19 in Bangladesh in 24 hours till Tuesday morning, the highest number of infections registered by the country in a single day.

Bangladesh also recorded 18 more Covid-related deaths during the period, raising the death toll to 8,738.

With the fresh cases, Bangladesh has seen the worst daily increase since July 15, 2020, pushing up the total infections to 525,994. The infection rate jumped to 13.69 per cent from 11.19 per cent a day before.

Bangladesh is seeing an alarming rise in coronavirus infections in the past few weeks after a downtrend in both the death toll and new cases.

On January 19, Bangladesh reported its virus infection rate at just 5.0 per cent and at one stage it fell below 3.0 per cent. The cases have started soaring again since February 9.

Bangladesh reported its first Covid-19 cases on March 8, 2020, and the first death on March 18 the same year.

In Bangladesh, Covid-19 tests are conducted at 118 government and private hospitals.

Meanwhile, the Covid-19 vaccination drive is underway across the country. So far, 4,911,902 people have been vaccinated in the country since the drive began with the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab on February 7.

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