COVID-19 cases
10 more Omicron cases detected in Bangladesh
Ten more cases of the Omicron variant of Covid-19 have been detected in Bangladesh, taking the total tally to 20 till Friday, according to GISAID, the global database for genomic data on the coronavirus.
On December 11, Bangladesh reported its first two cases of the Omicron variant in two members of the Bangladesh women cricket team.
They had returned from Zimbabwe after taking part in the ICC Women's World Cup qualifiers. The event was, however, called off midway due to the surge of Omicron.
The GISAID findings were based on the data submitted by the Institute for Developing Science and Health Initiatives (ideSHi) in Dhaka.
Also read: Police HQ issues guidelines to protect force from Omicron
Working in partnership with the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research and icddr,b, the infectious diseases laboratory at ideSHi has begun processing Covid-19 test samples from patients across Bangladesh.
Bangladesh is currently seeing a surge of Covid-19 cases as health authorities logged 4,920 infections in the last seven days till Thursday morning.
The country reported seven more deaths and 1,140 fresh cases in 24 hours till Thursday morning, said the directorate.
On January 2, the directorate said that women are more vulnerable to the newly emerged Covid-19 variant Omicron across the globe than men.
Also read: Women more vulnerable to Omicron than men: DGHS
Research data collected from countries like South Africa where the new variant has spread is showing this trend, DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin had said at a briefing on Covid-19.
“Data found in South Africa where the variant was detected first is showing a different trend -- women, children and youths are being infected more."
India logs 90,928 new COVID-19 cases
In India, the third wave of the pandemic seems to have set in.
On Thursday, the country reported a whopping 91,000 new Covid cases and as many as 325 deaths in 24 hours. The Indian capital alone recorded over 15,000 cases of coronavirus -- a 41% spike in just a day.
Of the 90,928 Covid cases logged pan-India in 24 hours that took the total case count to 351,09,286, as many as 2,630 were of the Omicron variant, as per the official figures released by the Indian Health Ministry.
Delhi, on the other hand, recorded its biggest single-day spike in eight months, as 15,097 fresh infections were recorded in 24 hours. The infection figure was 10,665 on Wednesday.
Read: India-made RT-PCR kit to detect Omicron gets approval: Centre
The national capital's positivity rate also surged past 15%, as per the government statistics.
Just a day before, the country reported its first Omicron death in the northwestern state of Rajasthan's Udaipur city, as the country recorded 58,097 fresh Covid cases and 534 fatalities in 24 hours.
The Omicron victim -- identified as 73-year-old Laxminarayan Nagar -- tested positive for Covid on December 15. A subsequent genome sequencing of his blood samples confirmed that the man had contracted the Omicron strain, according to health officials.
The man who had comorbidities but was doubly vaccinated, succumbed to the Omicron strain of the coronavirus in the early hours of December 31, according to the officials.
Omicron has been classified as "a variant of concern" by the World Health Organisation.
Alarmed by the rising Omicron cases, India's federal government two weeks ago warned states that "the variant is three times more transmissible than the Delta" and directed them to take action to rein in its spread.
Read:India reports first Omicron death
Earlier last month, India's civil aviation regulator backtracked on its decision to resume regular international flights from December 15.
The government put curbs on all flights in March 2020 following the Covid-induced lockdown. However, it allowed domestic flights from May 2020, and the entry of foreigners except tourists from October.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Daily cases surge past 600 after 3 months
Bangladesh reported 674 more Covid-19 infections with four more deaths linked to it in 24 hours till Monday morning.
The country’s daily cases crossed 600 last on October 8, 2021 with the logging of 645 cases and seven deaths.
With the detection of fresh cases after testing 19,980 samples, the daily case positivity rose to 3.37 per cent from Sunday’s 2.91 per cent during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,081 while the caseload mounted to 15,87,140.
Also read: Women more vulnerable to Omicron than men: DGHS
Of the 17 deaths recorded from December 27 to January 2, some 29.4 per cent received Covid vaccines while 70.6 percent did not, the DGHS mentioned.
Comorbidities among the deceased patients increased 0.5 per cent this week compared to the previous one. Comorbidity means the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period.
Besides, the recovery rate declined to 97.65 per cent with the recovery of 214 more patients during the 24-hour period.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases stood at 10 with detection of three cases on Friday, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data.
On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Also read: Now Covid tests start at Chattogram Airport
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Regarding the recent increase in the daily Covid-19 case detection, DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin said on Sunday, the number has gone up with the increase in the number of tests.
“Last week, 20 per cent more Covid-19 tests were conducted than the previous week. Along with that, the number of fatalities also increased in the last seven days,” Dr Robed added.
New COVID-19 cases in US soar to highest levels on record
More than a year after the vaccine was rolled out, new cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. have soared to their highest level on record at over 265,000 per day on average, a surge driven largely by the highly contagious omicron variant.
New cases per day have more than doubled over the past two weeks, eclipsing the old mark of 250,000, set in mid-January, according to data kept by Johns Hopkins University.
The fast-spreading mutant version of the virus has cast a pall over Christmas and New Year’s, forcing communities to scale back or call off their festivities just weeks after it seemed as if Americans were about to enjoy an almost normal holiday season. Thousands of flights have been canceled amid staffing shortages blamed on the virus.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the top U.S. infectious-disease expert, said Wednesday that there is no need to cancel small home gatherings among vaccinated and boosted family and friends.
But “if your plans are to go to a 40- to 50-person New Year’s Eve party with all the bells and whistles and everybody hugging and kissing and wishing each other a happy new year, I would strongly recommend that this year we not do that,” he said.
The threat of omicron and the desire to spend the holidays with friends and loved ones have spurred many Americans to get tested for COVID-19.
Read: India's Omicron tally crosses 350
Aravindh Shankar, 24, flew to San Jose, California, on Christmas from West Lafayette, Indiana, to be with family. Though he felt fine, he decided to get tested Wednesday just to play it safe, since he had been on an airplane.
He and his family spent almost an entire day searching for a testing appointment for him before he went to a site in a parking lot next to the San Jose airport.
“It was actually surprisingly hard,” Shankar said about trying to find a test. “Some people have it harder for sure.”
Read: French kids line up to get vaccine shots as omicron spreads
The picture is grim elsewhere around the world, especially in Europe, with World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus saying he is worried about omicron combining with the delta variant to produce a “tsunami” of cases. That, he said, will put “immense pressure on exhausted health workers and health systems on the brink of collapse.”
The number of Americans now in the hospital with COVID-19 is running at around 60,000, or about half the figure seen in January, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.
While hospitalizations sometimes lag behind cases, the hospital figures may reflect both the protection conferred by the vaccine and the possibility that omicron is not making people as sick as previous versions.
COVID-19 deaths in the U.S. have climbed over the past two weeks from an average of 1,200 per day to around 1,500.
Public health experts will be closely watching the numbers in the coming week for indications of the vaccines’ effectiveness in preventing serious illness, keeping people out of the hospital and relieving strain on exhausted health care workers, said Bob Bednarczyk, a professor of global health and epidemiology at Emory University.
CDC data already suggests that the unvaccinated are hospitalized at much higher rates than those who have gotten inoculated, even if the effectiveness of the shots decreases over time, he said.
“If we’re able to weather this surge with hopefully minimal disruptions to the overall health care system, that is a place where vaccines are really showing their worth,” Bednarczyk said.
It’s highly unlikely that hospitalization numbers will ever rise to their previous peak, said Amesh Adalja, senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School Public Health. Vaccines and treatments developed since last year have made it easier to curb the spread of the virus and minimize serious effects among people with breakthrough infections.
“Its going to take some time for people to get attuned to the fact that cases don’t matter the same way they did in the past,” Adalja said. “We have a lot of defense against it.”
But even with fewer people hospitalized compared with past surges, the virus can wreak havoc on hospitals and health care workers, he added.
“In a way, those hospitalizations are worse because they’re all preventable,” he said.
Several European countries, including France, Greece, Britain and Spain, also reported record case counts this week, prompting a ban on music at New Year’s celebrations in Greece and a renewed push to encourage vaccination by French authorities.
WHO reported that new COVID-19 cases worldwide increased 11% last week from the week before, with nearly 4.99 million recorded Dec. 20-26. But the U.N. health agency also noted a decline in cases in South Africa, where omicron was first detected just over a month ago.
Record COVID case numbers reported in 2 Australia states
Australia’s Victoria and Queensland states reported record levels of new daily coronavirus infections on Tuesday as pressure on testing centers prompted calls for wider use of rapid antigen tests.
Queensland state reported 1,158 cases, the first time the state has seen more than 1,000 cases in a day, but hospitalizations remained low. The state has more than 4,000 active cases of which 257 are reported to be the omicron variant.
State Health Minister Yvette D’Ath announced Tuesday that travelers from out of state no longer will have to have a PCR test five days after arrival. D’Ath said of the tens of thousands who had crossed the state’s borders recently, only 0.6 percent had tested positive on day five.
“Anyone who is waiting in lines now for the day five test . . . will not be required to get day five tests from now,” she said. “We thank everyone for doing the right thing. We have made sure we’ve done this in a safe and responsible way but from now, that no longer applies.”
Read: Australia’s most populous state reports 1st omicron death
Victoria state reported 2,738 new cases Tuesday, beating the previous state record of 2,297 cases in mid-October.
Australia’s most-populous state, New South Wales, saw a slight fall in case numbers but that corresponded with fewer tests around Christmas Day. The state reported 6,062 new infections Tuesday, down from 6,324 a day earlier.
New South Wales Heath Minister Brad Hazzard said the requirement for travelers to Queensland to have a negative PCR test 72 hours before departure was putting unnecessary strain on testing facilities. He said in enforcing the requirement, Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk was “perverting the purposes of pathology testing.”
“If Queensland thinks people are arriving free of COVID, that’s not necessarily true,” Hazzard said. “These tests have been done three or four days before arriving. It’s counterproductive.
“This rule is contributing to the breakdown of the biggest pathology system in the country. We are not getting the turnaround times we need.”
Read: Australia PM meets with state leaders as virus cases surge
Long lines were reported at testing centers around Sydney on Tuesday.
Australian federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has called for rapid antigen tests to replace PCR tests for most interstate travelers, to relieve pressure on testing centers.
“Using that rapid antigen test ahead of interstate travel is a better approach than the more expensive and time consuming PCR test,” Frydenberg told the ABC. “I think that’s a sensible balance recognizing that people want some level of surety about their health status before they travel.
“But at the same time they want to avoid the long queues and long waiting times coming with the PCR tests.”
Global covid cases near 280mn as Omicron wave pounds hospitals
The global overall number of coronavirus cases is fast approaching 280 million with the new Covid-19 strain Omicron showing a spike in hospitalization.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total global case count mounted to 279,906,569 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,399,781 on Sunday morning.
The US has recorded 52,280,510 cases so far and more than 816,610 people have died from the virus in the country, the university data shows.
In Britain, where the omicron variant has been dominant for days, government requirements have been largely voluntary and milder than those on the continent, but the Conservative government said it could impose new restrictions after Christmas. The U.K. hit a new high of 122,186 daily infections on Friday, but did not report figures for Christmas.
Read: Bangladesh all but certain to see Covid’s fresh wave
France has recorded more than 100,000 virus infections in a single day for the first time in the pandemic and Covid-19 hospitalizations have doubled over the past month, as the fast-spreading omicron variant complicates the French government’s efforts to stave off a new lockdown.
More than 1,000 people in France with the virus died over the past week, bringing the country's overall death toll to more than 122,000.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,243,266 cases as of Friday, while its Covid death toll rose to 618,732.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,786,802 on Sunday, as 6,987 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours across the country, showed the health ministry's latest data.
Besides, as many as 162 deaths due to the pandemic were reported since Saturday morning, taking the total death toll to 479,682.
Meanwhile, India's Omicron tally has reached 422, out of which Maharashtra and Delhi have reported 108 and 79 cases, respectively. Till now 130 patients have been discharged after recovery, as per India’s Health Ministry's data.
Australia’s New South Wales state reported more than 6,000 new Covid-19 cases on Monday and confirmed its first death from the omicron variant.
New South Wales, Australia’s most populous state, reported 6,324 new infections Monday, a fall of 70 from the record number a day before. There were 524 people in hospitals, including 55 in intensive care.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged four more Covid-linked deaths with 268 fresh infections in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
With the detection of the fresh cases after testing 17, 245 samples, the daily case positivity rate declined to 1.57 per cent from Saturday’s 2.01 per cent during the period, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Among the deceased, three were women and one was a man. Three of the fresh deaths were reported from Dhaka division while the other was from Rajshahi division.
The fresh numbers reported on Sunday took the country’s total fatalities to 28,060 while the caseload mounted to 15,83,253.
Read: Australia's New South Wales sets new daily COVID case record
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 per cent during the period.
Besides, the recovery rate remained static at 97.74 per cent with the recovery of 247 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On Sunday, Bangladesh logged one Covid-linked death with 275 fresh infections in 24 hours.
Though the deaths remained below five since December 13, the daily cases remained mostly over 250, according to data provided by the DGHS.
On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Global Covid cases top 275 million
The overall number of global Covid cases has now crossed 275 million amid the rapid spread of the Omicron variant in several western countries.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 275,438,382 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,360,382 Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 51,097,528 cases so far and more than 807,945 people have died from the virus in the country to date, the university data shows.
Omicron has raced ahead of other variants and is now the dominant version of the coronavirus in the US, accounting for 73% of new infections last week, federal health officials said Monday, reported AP.
Also read: Omicron sweeps across nation, now 73% of new US COVID cases
Meanwhile, the total number of coronavirus cases in the UK mounted to 11,518,116, while the total fatalities reached 147,722 according to figures released Tuesday.
Coronavirus infections are surging in Britain — up 60% in a week — as Omicron replaced Delta as the dominant variant, and Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said more new restrictions may have to be introduced to slow its spread.
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, registered 22,215,856 cases as of Tuesday, while its Covid death toll rose to 617,905.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,747,913 on Monday while the total death toll mounted to 477,554.
Moreover, 19 new cases from five states took the Omicron tally in India to 174 as of Tuesday.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported two more Covid-linked deaths, with the health authorities logging 260 fresh cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.
The detection of the new cases after testing 19,955 samples took the daily case positivity rate to 1.30 percent during the period, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 28,050 while the caseload mounted to 15,81,343.
Of the 20 deaths recorded from December 13 to December, 19, 20 percent received Covid shots while 80 percent did not, the directorate said.
Both the latest deceased were men, aged between 61 and 70, one from Dhaka division and another from Rangpur.
Also read: UK health boss: COVID-19 rules could tighten by Christmas
Meanwhile, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent during the period.
Besides, the recovery rate remained steady at 97.75 percent with the recovery of 236 more patients during the 24-hour period.
On December 9, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Surging COVID-19 cases bring a 2020 feel to the end of 2021
U.S. officials intensified calls Friday for unvaccinated Americans to get inoculated in the face of the new omicron variant that contributed to a record number of infections in New York and threatened to wipe out a second holiday season in Europe.
Though the calendar is about to change, Friday had a distinctly 2020 feel: NFL games were postponed because of COVID-19 infections. The Rockettes Christmas show was canceled for the season. European governments imposed a spate of restrictions that ground travel to a halt and saw travelers lying low.
Much remains unknown about omicron, but officials warn that it appears more transmissible than the delta variant, which has already put pressure on hospitals worldwide. The uncertainty alone was enough for many people to change their plans.
In the United States, President Joe Biden’s administration resisted tightening any restrictions, but also sketched out dire scenarios for the unvaccinated in a plea for hesitant Americans to get the shot.
“For the unvaccinated, you’re looking at a winter of severe illness and death, for yourselves, your families, and the hospitals you may soon overwhelm,” White House coronavirus response coordinator Jeff Zients said Friday, echoing the president’s own comments earlier this week.
The new variant is already in “full force” in New York City, Mayor Bill de Blasio said, with new cases hitting a one-day record of more than 8,300 on Thursday. But new hospitalizations and deaths – so far – are well below their spring 2020 peak and even where they were this time last year, city data shows.
The coronavirus also interrupted sports in the U.S. again. The NFL announced Friday that three games would be pushed from the weekend to next week because of outbreaks. The league has not specified whether the cases came from the omicron variant.
The Radio City Rockettes called off four performances scheduled for Friday because of breakthrough COVID-19 cases in the production, and plans for upcoming shows were still being assessed. The popular holiday program generally has four shows per day in December at Radio City Music Hall in Manhattan.
Dr. Stanley Weiss, a Rutgers University epidemiology professor, said officials need to react faster, citing a willingness to redefine fully vaccinated to include booster shots, for example.
“Everyone wants us to be through with this pandemic, but in order to get us through it, we can’t ignore the realities of what’s going on and what is needed,” Weiss said.
Denmark decided to close theaters, concert halls, amusement parks and museums in response to virus cases. In Spain, friends and classmates canceled traditional year-end dinners.
Scotland and Wales on Friday pledged millions of pounds for businesses hurt in Britain’s latest infection surge, a move that heaped pressure on Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government to do the same in England.
Treasury chief Rishi Sunak held talks with business representatives who have demanded more support, decrying a “lockdown by stealth” in which government officials recommend people cut back on socializing as much as possible without officially imposing the strict rules of past shutdowns.
Britain reported record numbers of infections three days in a row this week, the latest on Friday with more than 93,000 cases tallied.
Businesses ranging from vacation providers to pubs and theaters saw a wave of cancellations as customers decided to skip merrymaking for now rather than risk being infected and missing family celebrations later.
Even Britain’s Christmas pantos — beloved and raucous holiday performances — are under threat. The Belgrade Theatre in Coventry in western England had to refund 180,000 pounds ($240,000) in ticket sales after customers decided not to go to shows. It was also forced to cancel 12 performances of “Beauty and the Beast” because half the cast tested positive.
“There’s been a real dent of confidence,” Executive Director Joanna Reid told the BBC.
Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, said Friday that financial assistance for business must come from the central government because it has the borrowing power to finance the scale of aid that is needed.
“Business is already bleeding, every 24 hours counts,” Sturgeon said during a briefing in Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital. “There is no time to waste.”
The already beleaguered travel and tourism industry is being particularly hammered.
Eurostar, which operates trains across the English Channel, sold out of tickets to France on Friday before new rules restricting travel to and from Britain took effect. Long lines snaked around the parking lot at the Eurotunnel, which runs the tunnel that drivers use to cross the water.
Ryanair originally expected to carry about 11 million passengers in December, but that figure dropped to 10 million, chief executive Michael O’Leary told the Guardian. Europe’s biggest airline will also cut about 10% of its capacity in January.
Amanda Wheelock, 29, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, canceled a trip to France with her partner as cases spiked there. Even though the surge isn’t necessarily due to omicron, the uncertainty about the new variant, and a new requirement that all U.S. travelers have to test negative before flying back to the U.S., made her worry that the trip would be more stressful than fun.
“A vacation with a lot of stress is probably not a great vacation,” said Wheelock, who is from Arvada, Colorado.
The Advantage Travel Group, which represents about 350 U.K. travel agents, said business fell by 40% in mid-December from a month earlier. Those numbers, including flights, cruise bookings and package holidays, add to the travel industry’s existing slump, which had already seen business fall by two-thirds since the pandemic began, CEO Julia Lo Bue-Said.
“Our members are dealing with customers who are really nervous about traveling now,” she said “They’re really nervous about bookings for the New Year because they fear that there’s a risk that the government will make more knee-jerk reactions.”
Many in the travel and hospitality trades hoped they had put the worst behind them, nearly two years into a pandemic that has devastated those industries. They saw this holiday season as a chance to claw back some of what was lost — until omicron cast a pall reminiscent of the early days of the crisis.
Read: CDC recommends Pfizer, Moderna COVID-19 shots over J&J's
Richard Stevens estimates he has lost out on 4,000 pounds ($5,300) worth of bookings at his rental ski chalet in the French Alps after the new, stricter travel rules for people coming from Britain were announced.
He lost his first reservation when a guest called to say that the restrictions won’t allow anybody to come to France without a compelling reason, Stevens said. “And the compelling reason doesn’t include going on holiday.”
Celebrity chef Michel Roux and other restaurateurs have invested heavily to remake their venues to address safety concerns — and hoped to reap some of the benefits.
To return to a state of huge uncertainty for a second consecutive Christmas is “like a kick in the stomach,” said Roux, who has a destination restaurant in London.
Jorge Riera, who manages a traditional Spanish diner in central Madrid, said it doesn’t matter that authorities have not imposed specific restrictions and, at most, have only issued recommendations.
“Most of our customers prioritize the well-being of their relatives over going out for a fun night with colleagues,” Riera said.
Read: Bangladesh reports 3 more Covid-linked deaths with 257 fresh cases
In the past week alone, cancellations rolled in for about half of the booked space, sometimes on the same day of the event, the manager said.
“People are once again afraid of the virus,” he said.
Global Covid cases top 268 million
The overall number of global Covid cases has now surpassed 268 million amid the Omicron-driven surge in several countries.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count mounted to 268,484,455 while the death toll from the virus reached 5,286,785 Friday morning.
The US has recorded 49,660,358 cases to date, while more than 794,647 people have died so far from the virus in the country, as per the university data.
New cases in the US climbed from an average of nearly 95,000 a day on November 22 to almost 119,000 a day this week, and hospitalisations are up 25% from a month ago. The increases are due almost entirely to the Delta variant, though the Omicron mutation has been detected in about 20 states and is sure to spread even more, reports AP.
Deaths are running close to 1,600 a day on average, back up to where they were in October. And the overall US death toll less than two years into the crisis could hit another heartbreaking milestone, 800,000, in a matter of days.
Also read: US expands Pfizer COVID boosters, opens extra dose to age 16
Brazil, which has been experiencing a new wave of cases since January, has registered 22,177,059 cases so far, while its Covid death toll rose to 616,504.
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 34,674,408 on Thursday, as 8,167 new cases were registered in 24 hours across the country, as per the federal health ministry.
Besides, 1,279 deaths from the pandemic since Wednesday morning took the total death toll to 474,390.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related deaths after nearly three weeks as the pandemic is apparently showing signs of easing amid the emergence of a new variant of the virus, Omicron.
The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.
Also read: Bangladesh again reports zero Covid fatality in nearly 3 weeks
With the latest figures, the daily case positivity rate declined to 1.22 percent from Wednesday’s 1.35 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The total fatalities remained static at 28,016 while the caseload mounted to 15,78 550, with the fresh cases.
Meanwhile, the mortality rate declined to 1.77 percent during the period.
The fresh cases were detected after testing 21,496 samples, amid the growing concern over the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.
Besides, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.78 percent with the recovery of 287 more patients during the 24-hour period.Bangladesh reported the highest number of daily fatalities of 264 on August 5 this year, while the highest daily caseload was 16,230 on July 28 this year.
Cruise ship with COVID-19 infections has new passengers
A cruise ship that carried at least 17 passengers and crew members with breakthrough COVID-19 infections when it docked in New Orleans has set sail again with new passengers.
Nine crew members and eight passengers were infected when the Norwegian Breakaway arrived on Sunday, a Louisiana Department of Health spokeswoman said Monday.
None had any symptoms and only fully vaccinated people are allowed on board, Norwegian Cruise Line said.
The cruise line said all passengers who boarded the Norwegian Breakaway on Sunday were offered a chance to cancel without penalty. The company did not immediately respond to questions about whether any did cancel or how many passengers the ship now carries.
Also read: Study suggests past COVID infection may not fend off omicron
"Guests who opt to sail must wear masks while indoors except while actively eating or drinking and will be tested twice during the cruise," the statement said.
The Breakaway can carry up to 3,963 passengers. Its Caribbean route from New Orleans includes Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico; Roatán, in the Bay Islands of Honduras; and Harvest Caye, Belize.
An earlier statement from Norwegian Cruise Line said that any passengers who tested positive would either drive themselves home or "self-isolate in accommodations provided by the company.”
Some people who left the ship on Sunday told WVUE-TV that they had been told that people on board had tested positive for COVID-19, but others said they hadn't.
Don Canole of North Carolina said he got first word from overhearing the station's interview with someone nearby. "It would have been nice to have known. We would have taken maybe a few more precautions," he said.
Passengers said they were tested for COVID-19 exposure on Saturday. The cruise line also gave passengers take-home rapid tests as they left the ship, according to WVUE.
Also read: US panel backs first-of-a-kind COVID-19 pill from Merck
Cruise ships were an early source of outbreaks at the start of the coronavirus pandemic last year, and some ships were rejected at ports and passengers were forced into quarantine. The CDC issued a no-sail order in March 2020, prompting a standstill that ended last June as cruise ships began to leave U.S. ports with new health and safety requirements.