COVID-19 death toll
Bangladesh records 34 more Covid deaths; positivity rate crosses 10%
As the administration of the first dose of the vaccine remains suspended in Bangladesh since April 26, the country continues to battle Covid-19, logging 1,887 new cases after testing 18,151 samples until Friday morning.
The new number took the country's caseload to 807,867. Also, the daily infection rate rose to 10.40% from Thursday's 9.94% while the mortality rate remained static at 1.58%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, the country confirmed 34 more deaths during the same period, raising the total number of fatalities to 12,758.
Dhaka division saw the highest fatalities during the period with the death of nine people while Chattogram witnessed six deaths, Rajshahi, Khulna, and Rangpur five each, Sylhet three and Barishal one.
READ: Covid-19: Govt to vaccinate 25 lakh people each month
However, 747,758 patients have recovered so far since the country reported its first Covid cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Correlation between death rate, cases observed
To get an accurate measure of death rate, the number of infected people should be used as the denominator and the deceased as the numerator – both of which occurred and ended within a specified time, Dr AM Zakir Hussain, former director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research, told UNB.
"But for a disease like Covid-19, which still rages on, the rate should be considered in reference to a specific and relevant time. A recent assessment showed that the highest number of deaths occurred 14 days after the highest number of Covid-19 cases – a situation that still prevails in Bangladesh and India. So, the current method for estimating death rate is not accurate," he said.
What’s test positivity?
The Covid-19 positivity rate indicates, among other things, the number of people showing clinical features of the disease or the percentage of individuals suffering from the disease. Such estimation has two errors, Dr Zakir said.
READ: Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 30 more deaths, 1,687 new infections
"One, an RT-PCR test, based on the present method of sample collection, misses about one-third of the actual cases. Two, when more than 20 cycles of diagnostic procedures are repeated even a single virus in a sample would show a positive result, which, however, will not indicate that the person who gave the sample will transmit the infection to others or that they will come down with the disease. An RT-PCR test shows positive results even when the virus is dead," he added.
Lockdown in districts
Due to the recent rise in Covid infections in frontier districts, district administrations have imposed lockdowns in Rajshahi, Khulna, Satkhira and parts of Naogaon districts to curb the transmission of the virus.
The district administrations have been given the authority to enforce lockdowns in their areas if the Covid-19 situation worsens.
Bangladesh sees rise in Covid infections; 41 more die
Amid the growing trend in both the Coronavirus infections and fatalities, Bangladesh logged 41 more deaths, pushing up the death toll to 12,660.
Besides, health authorities detected 1,765 new cases after testing 18,250 samples during the period.
The country’s daily death record remained below 40 since May 25 while it stayed below 50 since May 9.
With the new cases, the total caseload rose to 8,02,305, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily infection rate slightly increased to 9.47 percent from Monday’s 9.41 percent while the mortality rate remained static at 1.58 percent.
The country has so far tested 59,65,763 samples.
Read:Covid: WHO renames UK and other variants with Greek letters
The DGHS handout says 92.50% of the people infected till now have recovered, including 1,779 who tested negative during the period.
Bangladesh reported its first Coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Covid-19: Bangladesh again sees steep rise in deaths, new cases
Bangladesh on Wednesday witnessed 37 more Covid-19 related deaths in 24 hours until Wednesday morning.
The death tally now stands at 12,248 while the mortality rate remains static at 1.56%.
Besides, the country saw 1,608 new cases with an increased number of tests as 20,538 samples were tested during the period, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The infection rate rose to 7.83% from Tuesday’s 7.55%.
Also read: Govt approves proposal to import Sinofarm vaccine
The country reported 30 deaths from the virus on Tuesday and 32 on Monday.
Among the latest fatalities, 24 are men and 13 are women.
Covid-19 claims 40 more lives, infects 1,144 others
Bangladesh has registered 40 more Covid-19 deaths in the past 24 hours until Wednesday morning, showing a rise in the number of daily deaths than the previous day.
With the news deaths the national tally reached at 12,045 on Wednesday. The country witnessed 33 deaths on Tuesday.
Bangladesh has been seeing below 60 daily deaths for a week after recording over 100 fatalities on several occasions in April.
However, the mortality rate rose to 1.55 percent, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Besides, 1,140 new cases were detected after testing of 15,296 samples, pushing up the caseload to 777,397. Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,677,222 tests.The daily infection rate fell slightly to 7.45 percent from Tuesday’s 8.67 percent.
Bangladesh was experiencing a surge in Covid-19 cases in April and the daily cases came down to below 2000 since May 1.
DGHS said 2,928 patients recovered in the past 24 hours, taking the recovery rate to 92.39 percent.
Also Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 41 deaths in 24 hours, lowest in 39 days
The country reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Dhaka worst-hit region
Dhaka has remained the worst-hit division, recording 6,972 fatalities or 57.88 percent of the total deaths until now.
Of the total daily deaths, sixteen deaths have been reported from Dhaka alone while 13 from Chattogrram.
Extended lockdown
The lockdown imposed on April 4 to contain the spread of coronavirus has been extended till May 16 as the government continues to discourage people from travelling to their village homes.
Officials of all government, semi-government autonomous and private organisations, banks and financial institutions have been asked to remain at their respective workstations during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
Inter-district transport services have remained closed while intra-district transport services were allowed to operate ensuring health guidelines. Launch and train services remain off.
Also Read: 500 thousand doses of China’s gifted vaccine arrive in Bangladesh
But the restrictions could not deter people from travelling to their village homes ignoring health risks.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
In the last 24 hours, 10 people have received the first dose of the vaccine while 97,337 have received the second dose, said the health directorate.
Also Read: Nothing to be worried about vaccines: FM
Vaccine arrives from China
Covid-19 vaccine doses, donated by the Chinese government to Bangladesh, arrived in Dhaka on Wednesday morning.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic last year, China and Bangladesh have been supporting and assisting each other to fight together against the pandemic.
China has donated and is donating vaccines to 80 developing countries with urgent needs, and has provided support under COVAX for the emergency use of vaccines in developing countries.
Covid-19 death toll in Bangladesh crosses 12,000
Bangladesh on Tuesday crossed the grim milestone of 12,000 coronavirus fatalities, nearly 15 months after reporting the first death in March last year.
With 33 latest fatalities in 24 hours until morning, the death tally soared to 12,005.
The country has been seeing below 60 daily deaths for a week after recording over 100 fatalities on several occasions last month.
However, the mortality rate rose to 1.55 percent after staying at 1.54 for four days, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Besides, 1,230 new cases were detected after testing of 14,184 samples, pushing up the caseload to 776,257. Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,661,926 tests.
The daily infection rate fell slightly to 8.67 percent from Monday’s 8.99 percent.
Also read: Ready to offer more support if Covid situation deteriorates in Bangladesh: China
After a massive upsurge in April, the number of daily cases fell below 2,000 since May 1.
However, the number of tests, as well as new cases, has declined from May 4, according to corona.gov.bd.
Covid-19 death toll in Bangladesh nears 12000
Bangladesh’s coronavirus fatalities are nearing another grim milestone even as deaths from the virus infection slow down.
The health authorities reported 38 more Covid-19-related deaths in 24 hours until Monday morning, bringing the total number of fatalities to 11,972.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.54 percent for the last four days, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, 1,514 new cases were detected after testing 16,848 samples, pushing up the total case count to 7,75,027. Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,647,742 tests.
The daily infection rate rose to 8.99 percent from 8.19 percent a day ago.
Also read: Covid-19 crisis: PM Hasina reiterates firm solidarity with India
After a massive upsurge, the number of daily cases fell below 2,000 since May 1.
However, the number of tests as well as new cases has declined from May 4, according to corona.gov.bd.
According to the DGHS, 2,115 patients recovered in the past 24 hours, putting the recovery rate at 91.90%.
The country reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Dhaka worst-hit region
Dhaka has remained the worst-hit region in the country, recording 6,937 fatalities or 57.94% of the total deaths until now.
Fifteen of the 38 virus-related deaths recorded today are from Dhaka and 11 from Chattogram.
Indian Coronavirus strain
The first case of Indian Coronavirus strain was detected in Bangladesh on Saturday, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR).
It was detected in a sample test at Evercare Hospital in Dhaka and it has been published in Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID), said IEDCR's chief scientific officer ASM Alamgir.
Also read: Global Covid-19 cases near 158 million
Extended lockdown
A lockdown imposed on April 4 has been extended until May 16 as the government grapples with the coronavirus situation.
But people are still indifferent towards health guidelines and safety rules.
The government has ordered the officials of all government, semi-government autonomous and private organisations, banks and financial institutions to remain at their respective workstations during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
Shops and shopping malls will remain open from 10am to 8pm maintaining health guidelines. If any kind of deviation and violation are seen, the shopping malls and shops will be closed instantly, says a Cabinet Division notification.
Inter-district transport services have remained closed while intra-district transport services were allowed to operate ensuring health guidelines. Launch and train services remain off.
But the restrictions could not deter people from travelling to their village homes ignoring health risks.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
However, DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam assured that Bangladesh would get 2.1 million doses of vaccines within May.
Dwindling vaccine stock
The DGHS on May 5 said the stock of the Covid-19 vaccine is dwindling as there are only 1.4 million jabs left with no sign of a fresh consignment of doses from India.
DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin said there will be a vaccine crisis if a fresh consignment does not arrive before the existing stock is exhausted.
Vaccine expected from China, US
Chinese Ambassador to Bangladesh Li Jiming has officially announced that 5,00,000 doses of Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine will reach Bangladesh on May 12 as a “special gift”.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen has recently written to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken seeking vaccine doses for immediate and long-term needs.
The government has sought immediate release of 2-4 million doses from the US and a total of 10 to 20 million doses of vaccine for the long-term supply.
Also read: Keep up efforts to procure Covid vaccines: Standing committee on Foreign Ministry
Vaccine production
With India slapping a ban on the export of AstraZeneca vaccines made by Serum, Bangladesh is trying to get technology from Russia and China to produce their vaccines locally.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on April 28 approved in principle a proposal for producing Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines in Bangladesh.
The government on April 29 approved the emergency use of Sinopharm, a day after approving the emergency use of Russia's Sputnik V vaccine.
Covid’s daily deaths in Bangladesh drop to 37
Bangladesh on Friday reported the deaths of 37 more people, including 14 women, from Coronavirus, the lowest since March 28.
The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said the new fatalities pushed up the country’s death toll to 11,833 and the mortality rate to 1.54 %.
Besides, the DGHS said, 1,682 new cases were detected during the period following the test of 17,013 samples, taking the total case count to 770,842.
"The number of deaths, recorded so far, is lower compared to the number of positive cases. This warrants conduction of genomic sequencing to see if any new but less virulent variant is in the offing," Dr AM Zakir Hussain, former director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research, told UNB.
Also, the country's infection rate rose to 9.89%, which was 8.44% a day ago, according to the DGHS.
The number of Covid deaths came down to as low as 50 after over a month on Wednesday as Bangladesh saw 50 deaths earlier on April 1 and it had kept rising since then. The body count soared to over 100 during April 16-19 and on April 25 but the daily fatalities have been falling gradually since then.
Also read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Around 21 pc of total deaths reported in April alone
According to the DGHS, 2,178 infected people recovered in the past 24 hours, putting the recovery rate at 91.37%.
Bangladesh has so far carried out 559,9276 nationwide tests since reporting its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year, the first death on the 18th of that month.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
India has tried to ward off its Covid crisis by ramping up its production of vaccines and banning their export, cutting off supplies to neighbours such as Bangladesh and Nepal as they struggle with infection surges.
The administering of the first dose has remained suspended in Bangladesh since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
However, DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam assured that Bangladesh would get 2.1 million doses of vaccines by early May.
Also read: Mall crowds may bring back Covid nightmare, warns minister
Dwindling vaccine stock
India's shortage of shots has its global implications because, in addition to its vaccination efforts, the country promised to ship out vaccines abroad as part of a United Nations vaccine-sharing programme that is dependent on its supply.
The DGHS on Wednesday said the stock of the Covid-19 vaccine is dwindling in Bangladesh as there are only 14 lakh jabs left with no sign in sight to get a fresh consignment of it from India.
DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin said, "We had around 1 crore and 2 lakh doses. Around 88 lakh jabs have already been administered as the first and second doses. Now we've some 14 lakh doses in stock."
Covid claims 61 more lives, infects 1,914 others in Bangladesh
Bangladesh logged 61 more coronavirus-related deaths and 1,914 new cases in 24 hours until Tuesday morning, showing a slight downtrend in daily fatalities and an uptick in infections.
The latest figures pushed up the death toll to 11,705 and the caseload to 7,65,596, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
However, the infection rate fell to 8.71 percent from Monday’s 8.95 percent while the fatality rate rose to 1.53 percent.
Bangladesh has recorded less than 70 virus related deaths since Friday. The body count soared to over 100 during April 16-19 and on April 25 but since then the daily fatalities have been falling gradually.
Bangladesh has so far tested 55,40,394 samples, 21,984 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS handout data, provided this morning.
There has been a steady decline in tests between April 28 and May 2, leading to fewer case counts. New cases declined between April 26 (3,306) and May 2 (1,359) before an upward curve in the next two following days.
So far, 90.78 percent of the total patients (6,95,032) have recovered, including 3,870 new ones. The recovery number has been on the wane between April 28 and May 2 and picked up again from Monday.
Also read: Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Around 21 pc of total deaths reported in April alone
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year, before confirming the first death 10 days later.
21% of total deaths in April
April has been the worst month for Bangladesh with 2,404 fatalities, accounting for 20.99 percent of the total death toll, and 147,837 new cases, according to DGHS.
In Bangladesh, 568 coronavirus-related deaths were reported in January, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division saw most of the deaths – 6,812 or 58.20 percent – of the total fatalities.
Twenty-eight of the 61 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 18 from Chattogram division.
Lockdown continues till May 16
The ongoing lockdown imposed on April 5 has been extended until May 16 but people are hardly following health safety rules.
Also read: Lockdown to continue until May 16, intra-district public transport services from May 6
They are still crowding shopping malls and markets ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, the biggest religious festival of the Muslims. Photos and videos shot by UNB correspondents show overcrowded shopping places and total indifference towards health guidelines.
There will hardly be any positive outcome if the people don’t follow health rules to protect themselves and others around them from coronavirus.
Meanwhile, intra-district public transport services will be allowed to resume from May 6.
Vaccination drive
Bangladesh kicked off its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it purchased from the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain.
The administering of the first dose was announced of remaining suspended from April 26.
Also read: Vaccines to be procured at any expense, says PM Hasina
DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam had assured that Bangladesh will get 2.1 million doses of vaccine by the first week of May.
In the last 24 hours, 38 people have received the first dose and 83,540 have received the second dose of Covid vaccine, said the DGHS handout.
The registration process for receiving the vaccine jab remains shut.
Vaccine production
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on April 28 approved in principle a proposal for producing Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines in Bangladesh.
The government on April 29 approved the emergency use of Sinopharm, a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine, a day after approving the emergency use of Sputnik V vaccine of Russia.
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Tuesday said the Chinese government is working to start delivering Covid-19 vaccine doses before Eid-ul-Fitr although a 5-day May Day holiday is underway in China.
Also read: Dhaka hopeful of getting vaccine doses from China before Eid
Meanwhile Health Minister Zahid Maleque shared a more specific date – May 10.
Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Popular Pharma and Health Care Pharma have the capacity of producing vaccines, and the Chinese vaccine could be produced locally, Director General of DGDA Mahbubur Rahman told reporters.
On April 28, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division noted that the government will purchase vaccine technology from Russian and China through direct procurement method (DPM).
Covid surge in Bangladesh: Experts say lockdown likely to pay off
Experts think that the ongoing lockdown in Bangladesh appears to be paying off as both the active coronavirus cases and death toll have marked a sharp fall over the last few days in the country.
They, however, fear that the benefits might be short-lived ones as the government has allowed shopping malls to reopen and is thinking of resuming public transport services soon though the virus is yet to come under control.
The analysts warned that the Covid situation is likely to worsen again with the hordes of shoppers and holidaymakers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, one of the largest religious festivals of Muslims to be celebrated in the middle of this month.
They advised the government to announce a stimulus package for the transport workers instead of resuming transport service, enforce the law to make people to wear masks and maintain health safety rules and increase vigilance along the border to check any possible trespassing or illegal entry to Bangladesh from India to maintain the improved trend in the Covid situation.
The government imposed a complete countrywide lockdown on April 14 for a week to tackle the worsening Covid situation, and later it was extended up to May 5. But the government gave permission for reopening shops and malls across the country from April 25 amid lockdown.
Road, Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said on Saturday the government is considering the resumption of public transport services in the country ahead of Eid.
Bangladesh’s health authorities reported 69 more deaths and 1,359 new cases in 24 hours until Sunday morning.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 69 more deaths, 1,359 new cases
The virus infection rate that increased to 23 percent early last month has now dropped to 9.60 percent on Sunday.
Lockdown proves to be effective
Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director (disease control) of the DGHS, said the fall in the number of Covid cases and deaths has manifested that the ongoing lockdown has proved to be good.
“As the offices and mass transport service remains shut, people’s movement has declined, contributing to reducing the virus transmission,” he said
Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 69 more deaths, 1,359 new cases
The health authorities reported 69 more coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours until Sunday morning, taking the death toll to 11,569, as Bangladesh grapples to tackle the second wave of the pandemic.
Besides, 1,359 new cases were detected after examining 14,158 samples, the lowest number of tests since April 18, according to government data.
The health authorities have so far tested 5,498,979 samples. There has been a steady decline in the number of tests since April 28. New cases have been on the wane since April 26 but fell dramatically since April 28, data available on corona.gov.bd show.
However, the daily infection rate fell to 9.6 percent from Saturday’s 9.61 percent while the fatality rate rose to 1.52 percent from 1.51 percent a day before, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the new cases, the country’s total Covid-19 caseload now stands at 761,943, the DGHS handout said.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8, 2020 and the first death on March 18 that year.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 77 deaths, new cases 2,955