Despite rapid vaccine rollout in different countries, more than 123 million people have been infected with Covid-19 on Monday, according to the Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The total caseload reached 123,145,452 while the death toll from the virus climbed to 2,714,938 as of Monday morning, reports UNB citing the JHU.
The US has recorded 29,818,157 cases with 542,356 fatalities. The US still remains the world's worst-hit country, both in terms of cases and deaths. The US death toll crossed the grim milestone of 500,000 on February 22.
Brazil reported more than 294,000 deaths from the Covid-19, with 1,290 deaths registered in a day.
Brazil has recorded a total of 294,042 deaths and 11,998,233 confirmed cases as of Sunday, with 47,774 new cases reported in the last 24 hours.
India’s total caseload reached 11,599,130 till Monday morning while the death toll from the virus mounted to 159,755.
Situation in Bangladesh
Amid a worrying surge in Covid-19 infections, Bangladesh recorded 22 more deaths and 2,172 new cases in the last 24 hours until Sunday morning.
The infection rate rose to 10.29 percent which was 09.39 per cent a day earlier.
The latest figures have pushed the Covid-19 fatalities to 8,690 and the total infections to 570,878, according to a handout by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, the mortality rate stood at 1.52 percent for the third consecutive day after remaining static at 1.53 per cent for the past week.
The Covid-19 infection rate had come down to below 5.0 per cent on January 19 last. It even fell below 3.0 per cent but soared again on February 9.
So far, 522,405 patients (91.51 percent) have recovered, including 1,687 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8, 2020 and the first death on March 18 the same year. Health authorities have so far tested 4,409,119 samples, including 21,108 in the past 24 hours.
Amid spike in infections, the government has taken a tougher stance to fight Covid-19 transmission. The Health Ministry sent letters to districts, directing the officials concerned to impose fines on people flouting Covid protocols.
Vaccination drive in Bangladesh
Bangladesh started its countrywide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7.
By Sunday, 4,840,969 people received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The second dose has to be taken between 8 and 12 weeks of the first one.
The government is providing the vaccine for free. It signed an agreement with India's Serum Institute for acquiring 30 million doses.
Serum will provide five million doses every month between January and June. For now, 40 years aged or above can register for getting the jab at www.surokkha.gov.bd.
Health Minister Maleque said the age limit for getting the vaccine will be revised when more doses will be available in the country.