Bangladesh added 145 fatalities, lowest in 48 days, to its national tally Friday as Covid deaths continue to fall for the third straight day and cases remain below the 8,000 mark since August 14.
The country reported 134 Covid deaths on July 3, the highest fatality number – 264 – on August 5 and 10, and 16,230 infections on July 28.
Bangladesh is now reporting 7,191 new cases on average each day – 50% of the peak. The highest daily average was reported on August 3.
Read: Covid death toll in Bangladesh crosses 20,000 with 237 new deaths
It recorded 5,993 new cases Friday after testing 34,892 samples, down from 8,465 logged a week earlier on August 13.
The country has been experiencing a surge of Covid-related caseloads and deaths since June 2021.
Between May and June this year, there was a 273% rise in monthly caseloads and 162% in fatalities. In July there was a 150% increase in caseloads and a 170% rise in deaths compared to the previous month, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).
There have been 14,53,203 infections and 25,023 coronavirus-related deaths here since the pandemic began, said the Directorate General of Health Services.
In 24 hours till Friday morning, the percentage of coronavirus tests coming back positive stood at 17.18%, down from August 13's 20.83%, while the WHO recommends a 5% or below rate.
However, the recovery rate rose to 92.74%, and the case fatality increased to 1.72% compared to the same period.
Dhaka division reported the highest 57 deaths, Chattogram 43, Khulna 15; Mymensingh, Sylhet and Rangpur seven each, Rajshahi five and Barishal four.
Read: Covid getting harsher in Bangladesh; kills 246 more
Since the beginning of the vaccination programme, the government has administered at least 22,413,079 doses of Covid vaccines – enough to have vaccinated around 6.7% of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses.
Getting vaccinated prevents severe illness, hospitalisations, and death; and with the Delta variant; this is more urgent than ever, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.