The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases is approaching 45 million globally as the world has recorded 44,945,080 cases as of Friday morning, according to the latest data of John Hopkins University (JHU).

A total of 1,180,317 fatalities have been recorded globally, according to the data while more than 30 million people have recovered from the virus.

US Covid-19 situation

The US has registered over 228,647 deaths and almost nine million infections – by far the highest in the world on both counts.

The country also recorded 78,981 new cases with 994 fatalities as of Friday, according to the JHU data.

The United States hit a record high average daily COVID-19 cases of over 74,000 on Wednesday, setting a new high since the onset of the pandemic in the country, according to the data of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) updated on Thursday.

The CDC has reported 81,599 new cases on Wednesday, the third time the number hit over 80,000 over the past week, the CDC data showed.

The 7-day average daily cases in the country have been on a rise since early September, surpassing 60,000 since Oct. 22. The country is adding an average of 74,532 new COVID-19 cases to the national total as of Thursday.

Altogether 41 states are reporting at least 10 percent more cases compared to the week before, according to CNN report.

As daily new cases skyrocket, hospitalizations are rising, too, and deaths, which lag furthest behind those other indicators, are ticking up.

Daily death count hit nearly 1,060 on Wednesday, with an average count at about 800 per day, CDC data showed.

Currently there are 45,000 hospitalized COVID-19 cases nationwide, according to latest figure of The COVID-19 Tracking Project.

Besides, Brazil's COVID-19 cases reached 5,494,376 after 28,629 new cases were reported, the country's Ministry of Health said on Thursday.

Meanwhile, 510 more deaths were registered, bringing the national death toll related to the virus to 158,969.

In India, the country has reported 49,881 new coronavirus cases, continuing a downward trend in infections even as the country’s caseload has crossed 8 million and is only behind the U.S.

The Health Ministry also reported 517 new fatalities, raising the overall death toll to 120,527 on Friday, according to the JHU data.

The slowdown in the pandemic in India has now lasted more than a month and the country has reported fewer than 60,000 cases for nearly two weeks.

Bangladesh Coronavirus situation

Bangladesh on Thursday reported 1,681 new coronavirus cases in the last 24 hours, pushing the total caseload to 404,760.

Meanwhile, 25 more patients died from Covid-19, taking the fatalities to 5,886.

So far, 321,281 patients (79.38 percent) have recovered -- 1,548 in the last 24 hours.

The fatality rate in Bangladesh is 1.45 percent, the Directorate General of Health Services said.

Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8. The number of cases reached the 300,000-mark on August 26. The first death was reported on March 18 and the death toll exceeded 5,000 on Sept 22.

Read Also: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 1681 new cases, 25 deaths

Holy Eid-e-Miladunnabi, the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh), is being observed in the country on Wednesday with due religious solemnity.

On this day in 570 AD, the 12th of Rabiul Awal of the Hijri calendar, Muhammad (pbuh) was born in Makkah of Saudi Arabia with divine blessings and messages of peace for mankind. He also passed away on the same day.

The day is a public holiday.

The Muslims across the country joined special prayers marking the day.

Different government and non-government organisations, including the Islamic Foundation, have chalked out elaborate programmes to mark the day.

President M Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday issued separate messages on the eve of Miladunnabi, greeting the countrymen and Muslims across the world.

Marking the day, Islamic Foundation has taken a fortnight-long special programme.

The programme includes delivering sermons on the life and works of Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) after Maghrib and Isha prayers every day, recitation from the holy Quran, singing of Islamic songs, recitation of poems and organising seminars jointly with Bangladesh Betar.

Islam's most important prophet,  held by his followers to be the Last Messenger of Allah, passed away on the same date in 633 AD.

Bangladesh Television (BTV) and Bangladesh Radio will be airing special programmes highlighting the importance of the day.

Read Also: Eid-e-Miladunnabi on Friday

The intern doctors at Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital (SBMCH) on Thursday announced an indefinite work abstention demanding punishment of Assistant Registrar Masud Khan for irregularities.

The interns locked the entrance of the emergency unit at 11:55pm causing acute suffering to the patients.

They also demonstrated in front of the hospital where Inter Doctors’ Association President Sajal Pandey and General Secretary Tarikul Islam were present.

Sajal said: “We are demanding to shut the 'commission business' of the hospital.”

Medicine Department Assistant Registrar Masud Khan has been taking commission from different diagnostic centers using the name of interns, he alleged.

He also harassed and verbally assaulted the intern doctors whenever anyone tried to protest against the matter, Pandey said.

“We submitted a written complaint to the hospital director but no action has been taken. Rather interns were harassed on social media," he said.

Also read: Coronavirus: SBMCH orthopaedic department locked down

The government is planning to formulate a law regarding data privacy protection, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said Thursday.
 
He made the remark while inaugurating the Data Center Disaster Recovery Site in Jashore Border Guard Bangladesh-49 headquarters in the afternoon.
 
Important information from different government and private institutes can easily go outside the country through Facebook or Google and some other tech companies, he said.
 
Besides, a large amount of money is also getting out of the country, he said, adding that many economic institutes don’t even have any backups.
 
“So, there is no alternative to data privacy protection law. Self-reliant digital Bangladesh will be made by securing data shortly,” Palak said.
 
Also read: Bangladesh to manufacture world-class ventilators: Palak

South Korea has decided to provide Bangladesh a soft loan of US$ 50 million to support the country’s efforts for fighting against the COVID-19 pandemic.
 
The loan will be provided from the Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), a soft loan for assisting the socio-economic development programme of developing countries run by EXIM Bank Korea.
 
Dhaka and Seoul will soon enter into discussions for the implementation of the loan decision, including the conclusion of the Loan Agreement, said the Korean Embassy in Dhaka on Thursday.
 
So far, the Republic of Korea has provided the EDCF to Bangladesh for 24 projects with the amount of $ 1.14 billion.
 
Bangladesh is the second-largest recipient of Korea's EDCF loan.
 
Also, in support of Bangladesh's efforts to contain the COVID-19, the Republic of Korea will donate COVID-19 test kits worth $800,000 through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other equipment such as ten units of walk-through booths through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
 
Reaffirming the solidarity with the government and people of Bangladesh in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, the Korean Embassy wished that this loan would play a meaningful role in Bangladeshis efforts to effectively address the COVID-19 crisis.
 
Also read: Covid-19: S Korea pledges broader support to Bangladesh