The global Covid-19 cases surpassed 40.5 million on Wednesday (Oct 21) amid reports of growing infections in Europe and the US. According to the latest tally of John Hopkins University (JHU), the total coronavirus cases reached 40,564,075 with 1,123,767 fatalities as of Wednesday morning.
Since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States has witnessed 300,000 more deaths than usual, according to a new official report. Citing data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the report showed that from February to September, deaths reported in the United States usually would be about 1.9 million, while this year, the number is close to 2.2 million, up by 14.5 percent.
CDC officials said the coronavirus was involved in about "two-thirds of the excess deaths," and it is likely that the virus has been a factor leading to many other deaths, too.
"For example, someone with heart attack symptoms may have hesitated to go to a hospital that was busy with coronavirus patients," they said.
A total of 95,000 excess deaths were among the elderly people aged from 75 to 84, a 21.5 percent increase compared with the number in a normal year, but the biggest relative increase, 26.5 percent, was in people aged from 25 to 44.
Currently, the US has registered 8,124,476 cases while the total death toll in the county reached 220,944 on Wednesday morning.
Besides, the total caseload in India reached 7,597,063 while the country’s death toll reached 115,197.
Meanwhile, Brazil has counted 5,273,954 cases with 154,837 fatalities.
The virus itself is believed to have originated in December in Wuhan, China, which has reported 91,006 coronavirus cases.
Europe is facing a second wave of Covid-19, but this time around, some cities are resisting virus restrictions.
Cities in the UK, France, Spain and other countries are against tightening restrictions and closing businesses again. But with over 200,000 deaths across the continent, leaders are struggling to keep the virus contained.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh on Tuesday saw another spike in Covid-19 cases as health authorities confirmed the detection of 1,380 new cases in 24 hours, taking the caseload to 3,91,586.
During the period, 18 more patients died from Covid-19, pushing up the death toll to 5,699.
Besides, 1,542 patients recovered from the disease, and the total recoveries from coronavirus infection have jumped up to 307,141.
The fatality rate in Bangladesh is still 1.46 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
