Global Covid cases near 599 million, deaths 6.466 mn

Covid-19 - A mother consoles her son neat a Covid testing centre in Dhaka.

Dhaka, Aug 19  -- The overall number of Covid cases is approaching 599 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.

According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 598,839,607 and the death toll reached 6,466,367 on Friday morning.

The US has recorded 95,186,075 cases so far and 1,064,780 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.

India's daily Covid-19 caseload on Thursday increased to 12,608, officials said.

According to federal health ministry data released on Thursday morning, 12,608 new cases of Covid were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 44,298,864 in the country.

The cases reported on Thursday marked an increase in comparison to the daily caseload of Wednesday, which stood at 9,062.

The country also logged 72 related deaths during the past 24 hours, pushing the overall death toll to 527,206 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.

New coronavirus cases reported globally dropped nearly a quarter in the last week while deaths fell 6% but were still higher in parts of Asia, according to a report Thursday on the pandemic by the World Health Organization.

The U.N. health agency said there were 5.4 million new Covid-19 cases reported last week, a decline of 24% from the previous week. Infections fell everywhere in the world, including by nearly 40% in Africa and Europe and by a third in the Middle East.

Covid deaths rose in the Western Pacific and Southeast Asia by 31% and 12% respectively, but fell or remained stable everywhere else.

At a press briefing Wednesday, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said reported coronavirus deaths over the past month have surged 35%, and noted there had been 15,000 deaths in the past week.

Covid in Bangladesh

One more person died from Covid, and 170 tested positive for the virus in Bangladesh in the 24 hours to Thursday morning.

While the country's total fatalities reached 29,315, the new number took its caseload to 2,009,604, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The daily case test positivity rate fell to 3.52 percent from Wednesday's 4.54 percent as 4,824 samples were tested.

The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 percent. The recovery rate rose to 97.18 percent from Wednesday's 97.17 percent. - UNB