Coronavirus: Global Cases Near 5.5 Million

The number of globally confirmed coronavirus cases inched closer to 5.5 million on Tuesday as the death toll climbed to 346,232, according to the Centre for System Science and Engineering of the Johns Hopkins University.

Among the countries, the US has been the worst-hit with the highest recorded deaths of 98,220 patients and about 1.7 million confirmed cases.

The UK has the second-highest death toll at 36,996, followed by Italy (32,877), France (28,460) and Spain (26,834), according to Johns Hopkins University.

Brazil now has the second-highest number of confirmed cases (374,898).

Some countries like China and New Zealand seem to have the pandemic under control. Besides, Europe is in the process of lifting lockdown, but in the Americas, the pandemic is still in full swing - especially in South America.

Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December last year.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the coronavirus crisis a pandemic on March 11.

What’s the situation in Bangladesh?

Bangladesh confirmed its first cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18 but it has been seeing a sharp rise in both new cases and deaths in recent weeks.

On Monday, the health authorities said the death tally has crossed 500 and reported the detection of record 1,975 new cases. So far, the country has recorded 35,585 cases.

Source: JHU