Bangladesh has recorded more than 6,000 new coronavirus cases for the second consecutive day as the country ramps up efforts to contain the virus’ transmission.

It was the fourth time in five days that Bangladesh reported its highest daily coronavirus cases when the health authorities confirmed 6,830 new infections on Friday afternoon.

The infection rate rose to 23.28 percent from 22.94 of Thursday’s when the country recorded 6,469 cases, the highest in months.

On Wednesday, the number of new cases was 5,358. It was 5,042 on Tuesday and 5,181 on Monday.

The number of daily cases and infection rate dropped below 5 percent earlier this year but there was an unusual surge as people continue to flout health safety rules. The sudden spurt appears to have caught the health sector unawares.

Also read: Fighting the Second Wave: Govt seeks stricter implementation of PMO directives

There is hardly any bed available at hospitals treating coronavirus patients. The government is increasing the number of beds and covid-designated hospitals to deal with the situation.

Bangladesh has so far recorded 624,594 coronavirus cases, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

During the 24-hour period until Friday morning, 2,473 patients recovered, taking the number of recoveries to 547,411.

Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and confirmed the first death from the virus 10 days later.

The country has so far tested 4,728,113 samples, including 29,339 in the last 24 hours, the DGHS said.

Meanwhile, the fatalities reached 9,155 with 50 new deaths. The mortality rate now stands at 1.47 percent.

Coronavirus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.

Also read: Avoid public gatherings, wear masks to fight Covid surge, PM urges all

Among the latest victims, 36 died in Dhaka division, seven in Chattogram, two each in Rajshahi and Sylhet, and Three in Khulna division.

So far, 5,228 coronavirus patients died in Dhaka division, 1,652 in Chattogram, 508 in Rajshahi, 589 in Khulna, 274 in Barishal, 327 in Sylhet, 376 in Rangpur and 201 in Mymensingh divisions.

So far 6,887 men (75.23) and 2,268 women (24.77) died of the virus.

Govt strengthens protective steps

The daily surge prompted the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to issue an 18-point directive on March 29 to prevent the virus’ transmission.

Also read: Restriction on gatherings, quarantine rule among PMO’s 18-point directive to contain Covid surge

On the same day, the Health Ministry proposed strict measures like partial lockdowns for some places with higher Covid-19 transmission rates.

Other recommendations made by the ministry include closure of amusement centres, picnic spots, religious gatherings, limiting wedding ceremonies, strengthening quarantine systems, limiting passengers in public transports, and limiting attendance in offices.

It also suggested strong enforcement of the ‘no mask no service’ policy, increasing numbers of mobile courts and slapping fines on health guideline violators.

The administrations in various districts have shut down the amusement centres and are urging people to mask up. But a large number of people are still reluctant to follow covid health guidelines, putting themselves and others around them at risk.

Vaccination drive

The government launched a countrywide vaccination campaign on February 7 with doses received from the Serum Institute of India.

Also read: No risk of contracting Covid-19 due to vaccination: DGHS

Bangladesh inked an agreement with Serum in December last year for 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Serum is supposed to supply the doses between January and June this year – 5 million each month.

Global situation

Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December 2019. Since then, countries around the world have reported 129.5 million cases and 2.8 million deaths so far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

Also read: Global Covid caseload tops 129 million

A number of vaccines have been developed to fight the virus. Most notable of them are those made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca.