COVID-19 cases
Covid-19: 4 more die, 430 new cases reported in 24hrs
Bangladesh recorded four more Covid-19-linked deaths with 430 new cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
With the latest figures, the country's total fatalities reached 29,266 while the caseload to 2,001,775, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The deceased included three men and a woman.
Two of them were from Dhaka while one each from Rangpur and Mymensingh divisions.
The daily case positivity rate dropped to 7.04 per cent from Saturday’s 10.10 per cent as 6,114 samples were tested.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 per cent. The recovery rate rose to 96.71 per cent from Saturday's 96.67 per cent.
Also read: WHO updates Covid strategy to vaccinate all health workers, vulnerable groups
In June, the country reported 18 Covid-linked deaths and 20,201 new cases, according to the DGHS.
Bangladesh reported its first zero Covid death on November 20 last year since the pandemic broke out here in March 2020.
Also read: Covid claims 4 more lives, infects 446 others
The country registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 in the same year.
Covid-19: 2 more die, 620 new cases reported in 24hrs
Bangladesh registered two more Covid-linked deaths with 620 cases in 24 hours till Friday morning.
With the latest figures, the country's total fatalities reached 29,258 while the caseload 2,000,899, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The latest fatalities - both men - were from Barishal and Sylhet divisions.
The daily case positivity rate decreased to 8.36 per cent from Thursday's 12.20 per cent as 7,419 samples were tested.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 per cent. The recovery rate rose to 96.62 per cent from Thursday's 96.52 per cent as 1,765 patients recovered during this period.
Read: Global Covid cases near 571 million
In June, the country reported 18 Covid-linked deaths and 20,201 new cases, according to the DGHS.
Bangladesh reported its first zero Covid death on November 20 last year since the pandemic broke out here in March 2020.
The country registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 in the same year.
Covid-19: Bangladesh logs 8 more deaths, 879 new cases
Bangladesh registered eight more Covid-linked deaths with 879 cases in 24 hours till Tuesday morning.
With the latest figures, the country's total fatalities reached 29,249 while the caseload 1,998,291, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Read: Global Covid cases top 568 million
Of the deceased, seven were men and one woman. The deceased were from Dhaka, Khulna, Rangpur and Mymensingh divisions.
The daily case positivity rate declined to 9.66 per cent from Monday's 9.77 per cent as 9,099 samples were tested.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 per cent. The recovery rate rose to 96.51 per cent from Monday's 96.47 per cent.
Read: Covid-19 special vaccination campaign sees lukewarm response: DGHS DG
In June, the country reported 18 Covid-linked deaths and 20,201 new cases, according to the DGHS.
Bangladesh reported its first zero Covid death on November 20 last year since the pandemic broke out here in March 2020.
The country registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 in the same year.
Global Covid cases top 568 million
The overall number of Covid cases has now surged past 568 million amid a rise in new infections in Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 568,579,567 and the death toll reached 6,389,451 Tuesday morning.
The US has recorded 91,429,409 cases so far and 1,049,274 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
India recorded 11,371 cases of Covid in 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,779,265 in the country, according to the health ministry data released on Monday.
Also read: Covid in Bangladesh: 7 more die, new cases 1,072
The country also logged 51 Covid-related deaths during this period, pushing the overall death toll to 525,760 since the beginning of the pandemic, the ministry said.
The detection of a more contagious Omicron mutant, BA.2.75, which is gaining ground in India, has worried health officials. They feared that the new mutant may be able to spread rapidly.
The Indian government has focused on promoting booster doses as the uptake for the third dose has been low. The drive to provide free booster doses of Covid vaccine to all adults at government centres began on Friday.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded seven more Covid-linked deaths with 1,072 cases in 24 hours till Monday morning.
With the latest figures, the country's total fatalities reached 29,241 and the caseload 1,997,412, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Govt to launch special Covid-19 vaccination campaign Tuesday: Minister
Of the deceased, four were men and three were women. The deceased were from Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna and Sylhet divisions.
The daily case positivity rate declined to 9.77 per cent from Sunday's 11.12 per cent as 10,974 samples were tested.
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 per cent. The recovery rate rose to 96.47 per cent from Sunday's 96.42 per cent.
India records over 20,000 COVID-19 cases for third day
India on Saturday recorded over 20,000 new cases of COVID-19 for the third straight day, officials said.
According to federal health ministry data released on Saturday morning, 20,044 new cases of COVID-19 were reported during the past 24 hours, taking the total tally to 43,730,071.
Read: Covid claims five more lives in Bangladesh, infects 1,007 others
With the new infections, India's active caseload stands currently at 140,760.
The South Asian country also logged 56 deaths from the pandemic during the cited period, bringing the death toll to 525,660 since the beginning of the pandemic.
Currently the daily positivity rate stands at 4.80 percent and the weekly positivity rate at 4.40 percent, the ministry data showed.
Covid 4th wave begins in clusters in Dhaka, say public health experts urging caution
As the country’s daily Covid-19 cases crossed the 1,000 mark on Wednesday after nearly four months, experts feared that the fourth wave of the pandemic has begun in some clusters in the capital.
They said two Omicron sub-variants--BA.4 and BA.5--are probably fuelling the fresh spike in Covid infections like in some other countries in the world, and warned that coming weeks could see exponential growth in daily Covid-19 cases as the community transmission may begin soon.
Read: COVID vaccines saved 20M lives in 1st year, scientists say
The public health experts, however, think the new wave is unlikely to be as virulent as the previous ones since a very large number of people have some sort of antibodies gained either by infection or vaccination.
DGHS spokesperson Dr Robed Amin, IEDCR adviser Dr M Mushtuq Husain and former World Health Organisation (WHO) Regional Advisor Muzaherul Huq made the observations while talking to UNB.
They emphasised on strict maintaining Covid-19 protocols, including the cent per cent use of masks and ramping up of vaccination to bring the most elderly persons under the coverage of the booster dose of the Covid vaccines to slow down the infection.
Bangladesh recorded 1,319 new cases and one death on Thursday while one death and 1,135 cases on Wednesday.
The country recorded over 1000 Covid cases (1409 cases) with 11 deaths last on February 25.
The daily-case positivity rate jumped to 14.32 per cent from Wednesday’s 13.30 per cent as 9,214 samples were tested, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Remain alert as Covid cases rising: Health Minister
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Monday urged all to maintain health protocols as the number of Covid cases started to rise in Bangladesh.
“Covid has not yet been eradicated yet and the situation may take alarming turn any time although it is normal now,” said the minister at the secretariat after a meeting on automation of admission process in private medical and dental colleges.
He said Covid cases have increased a bit in the country with 109 people infected with the virus on Sunday.
Also read: Bangladesh reports 109 Covid cases, zero death
Many eminent personalities including ministers have already been infected. “Everyone must follow health rules and wear a mask,” he added.
Zahid also urged those who have not been vaccinated yet to get vaccinated immediately.
The proposed budget allotted for the health sector is around Tk 4,000 crore which more than the previous fiscal year, he said.
Also read: Covid-19: Over 1 lakh Rohingya children vaccinated in Bangladesh
Regarding the automation of students admission in private medical and dental colleges, he said the admission process will be transparent now.
Global Covid cases top 534 million
The overall number of Covid cases has now crossed 534 million amid a rise in new infections in parts of the world.
According to the latest global data, the total case count mounted to 534,122,368 while the death toll from the virus reached 6,317,436 on Friday morning.
The US has recorded 86,271,283 cases so far and 1,032,862 people have died from the virus in the country, the data shows.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 22 cases, zero death
India's Covid-19 tally rose to 43,169,599 on Thursday while 524,641 people have died from the virus, as per the data.
Situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh registered 22 new Covid cases in 24 hours till Thursday morning, taking the country's total caseload to 1,953,563.
The country's total fatalities remained unchanged at 29,131 as no deaths were reported during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily test positivity rate dropped to 0.42 percent from Wednesday’s 0.63 percent as 5,225 samples were tested.
The country on Wednesday saw 34 cases with zero deaths.
Also read: WHO believes COVID getting worse, not better in North Korea
The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.49 percent. The recovery rate rose to 97.43 percent as 268 patients recovered during this period.
In May, the country reported only four Covid-linked deaths and 816 new cases while 7,356 patients recovered from the disease, according to the DGHS.
Among the four deaths during the period, one was vaccinated with single dose of a Covid vaccine while three were vaccinated with two doses.
WHO: COVID-19 cases mostly drop, except for the Americas
The number of new coronavirus cases and deaths are still falling globally after peaking in January, the World Health Organization said.
In its latest weekly assessment of the pandemic, the U.N. health agency said there were more than 3.7 million new infections and 9,000 deaths in the last week, drops of 3% and 11% respectively. COVID-19 cases rose in only two regions of the world: the Americas and the Western Pacific. Deaths increased by 30% in the Middle East, but were stable or decreased everywhere else.
WHO said it is tracking all omicron subvariants as “variants of concern.” It noted that countries which had a significant wave of disease caused by the omicron subvariant BA.2 appeared to be less affected by other subvariants like BA.4 and BA.5, which were responsible for the latest surge of disease in South Africa.
Read: Global Covid cases near 530 million
Salim Abdool Karim, an infectious diseases expert at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, said it appeared that South Africa had passed its most recent wave of COVID-19 caused by the BA.4 and BA.5 subvariants; the country has been on the forefront of the pandemic since first detecting the omicron variant last November.
Karim predicted that another mutated version of omicron might emerge in June, explaining that the large number of mutations in the variant meant there were more opportunities for it to evolve.
Read: Davos climate focus: Can ‘going green’ mean oil and gas?
Meanwhile in Beijing, authorities in the Chinese capital ordered more workers and students to stay home and implemented additional mass testing Monday as cases of COVID-19 continue to rise. Numerous residential compounds in the city have restricted movement in and out, although lockdown conditions remain far less severe than in Shanghai, where millions of citizens have been under varying degrees of lockdown for two months.
China is vowing to stick to a “zero-COVID” policy despite the fact that the WHO describes the policy as “unsustainable,” given the infectious nature of omicron and its subvariants.
Beijing extends work-from-home order as COVID-19 cases rise
Beijing extended orders for workers and students to stay home and ordered additional mass testing Monday as cases of COVID-19 again rose in the Chinese capital.
Numerous residential compounds in the city have restricted movement in and out, although conditions remain far less severe than in Shanghai, where millions of citizens have been under varying degrees of lockdown for two months.
Also read: Shared bikes disinfected as COVID-19 precaution measures in Beijing
Beijing on Monday reported an uptick in cases to 99, rising from a previous daily average of around 50.
In total, China reported 802 new cases Monday, marking a steady decline interrupted only by small-scale localized outbreaks. Despite that, the government has hewed to strict quarantine, lockdown and testing measures under its “zero-COVID” approach, even while the outside world is opening up.
Shanghai reported 480,000 people were still confined to their homes, while 1.59 million were permitted to move around their neighborhoods and 21.2 million were under lighter restrictions.
Also read: Beijing closes 10% of subway stations to stem COVID spread
The reopening of transport links out of Shanghai created an exodus of migrant workers and foreigners, desperate to escape shortages of food, medicine and daily necessities. Among those who remain, many were still restricted to one hour of shopping time, entrusted with bringing home supplies for their entire building.