Global coronavirus cases surpass 55 million

The worldwide Covid-19 caseload crossed 55 million on Friday, taking the tally to 56,898,415, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

Besides, the death toll from Covid-19 shot up to 1,360,381.

The United States remains the worst-hit country with 11,715,316 confirmed cases so far, including 252,535 fatalities.

But with coronavirus cases surging and people preparing to gather for Thanksgiving, the situation is likely to worsen. The nation’s testing system remains unable to keep pace with the virus, reports AP.

The delays are happening as the country braces for winter weather, flu season and holiday travel, all of which are expected to amplify the US outbreak.

Meanwhile, since Feb 2 when Brazil reported its first case, the caseload has swelled to 5,945,849 with 167,455 deaths.

Mexico became the fourth country to register over 100,000 COVID-19 deaths.

José Luis Alomía Zegarra, Mexico’s director of epidemiology, announced late Thursday that Mexico had 100,104 confirmed COVID-19 deaths, behind only the United States, Brazil and India.

On Friday, India’s coronavirus cases since the pandemic began crossed 9 million.

The country’s new daily cases have seen a steady decline for weeks now and the total number of cases represents 0.6 percent of India’s 1.3 billion population.

The Indian Health Ministry reported 45,882 new infections and 584 fatalities in the past 24 hours on Friday. The death toll is more than 132,000.

Vaccine hope

A second experimental COVID-19 vaccine from American company Moderna Inc yielded extraordinarily strong early results last week.

Moderna said its vaccine appears to be 94.5 percent effective, according to preliminary data from an ongoing study. A week before that another US company Pfizer Inc announced its own vaccine looked 90 percent effective.

The University of Oxford expects to release data on the efficacy of its own candidate in the coming weeks, with the latest trial results published in The Lancet suggesting it produces a strong immune response in older adults.

Developed jointly with global pharma giant AstraZeneca, who have enlisted manufacturing partners in different parts of the world, the ChAdOx1 nCov-2019 vaccine is the one most likely to play a large role in any large or medium-scale vaccination effort in Bangladesh. 

Health officials around the world are clashing over the use of certain drugs for COVID-19, leading to different treatment options for patients depending on where they live.

On Friday, a World Health Organization guidelines panel advised against using the antiviral remdesivir for hospitalised patients, saying there’s no evidence it improves survival or avoids the need for breathing machines.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday said the government had taken all-out preparations to procure vaccines whenever one is ready.

Earlier this month, the government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Serum Institute of India Pvt Limited and Beximco Pharmaceuticals Ltd to get 30 million doses of SARS-Cov-2 AZD 1222 (Oxford/Astrazeneca Vaccine).

Covid situation in Bangladesh

Bangladesh recorded 30 more deaths in 24 hours until Thursday morning, raising the death toll to 6,305 with a mortality rate of 1.43 percent.

Besides, health authorities detected 2,364 new cases during the period, pushing the caseload to 441,159.

So far, 356,772 patients have recovered.

Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8. The caseload reached the 300,000-mark on August 26. The first death was reported on March 18 and the death toll exceeded 6,000 on November 4.

Mobile court to ensure mask use

The prime minister has been warning of the second wave of Covid-19 cases in the winter months and urging people to wear masks, something the people seem reluctant to do.

The government has asked the administration to strengthen the mobile court operation and enforce laws to ensure the use of masks, also in the capital, to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic.

Bangladesh had enforced a months-long shutdown in the initial stage of the Covid-19 outbreak, which greatly helped it to keep the number of cases low.

But as the economic activities resumed, the people were found to ignore health guidelines and repeated pleas from the government have fallen on deaf ears

Health experts say adhering to safety rules can help prevent another mass outbreak of the virus in Bangladesh.-UNB