Global Covid deaths near 3.4 million

The global death toll from Covid-19 is approaching 3.4 million, as the race for mass inoculations continues. 

More than 3,399,194 people have died so far from the virus, while 163,952,478 cases have been reported worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Some 1,507,598,872 vaccine doses have been administered till Wednesday morning, according to the university.

The US has recorded 587,198 deaths since the pandemic began. Over 32,996,675 people have been found infected with the virus, if Johns Hopkins figures are to be believed.

India's total virus cases since the pandemic began swept past 25 million on Tuesday. To be specific, the country's total caseload currently stand at 25, 228,996, as per the data released by the government.

The numbers continue a trend of falling cases after infections dipped below 300,000 for the first time in weeks on Monday. Active cases in the country also decreased by more than 165,000 on Tuesday — the biggest dip in weeks, reports AP.

But deaths have continued to rise and hospitals are still swamped with patients. India has registered 278,719 deaths since the beginning of the pandemic.

Brazil on Tuesday reported 2,513 more deaths from Covid-19, raising the national count to 439,050, the Ministry of Health said.

The ministry said that 75,445 more infections were detected, raising the nationwide tally to 15,732,836.

According to the ministry, Brazil now has a death rate of 208.9 per 100,000 inhabitants.

Situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh on Tuesday registered 30 more coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours, pushing up the total fatalities to 12,211.

Besides, 1,272 new cases were detected during the period after testing 16,855 samples, the Directorate General of Health Services said in a handout.

The daily infection rate rose to 7.55 percent on Tuesday from Monday's 6.75 percent.

With the new cases, the total caseload reached 7,28,129 while the total number of recoveries stood at 7,24,209, including 1,115 in the past 24 hours.

Vaccination drive

Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.

The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has now made the delivery of the doses uncertain.

In fact, the country, the prime recipient of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.

In the past 24 hours, no one has received the first dose of the vaccine, while 64,377 have received the second dose, said the health directorate.