Explaining the sharp decline in the number of Covid-19 tests over the past week, Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Dr Nasima Sultana on Monday said people are ‘reluctant’ about conducting tests for various reasons.

“People are hardly panicked these days -- not that much interested in conducting tests...now outdoor booths set up for sample collection turn empty within 1 pm,” she said.

Dr Nasima said second-time tests are not carried out now to confirm recoveries because of new WHO guidelines. “Because of this the number might have declined.”

She mentioned that the government-set fees for conducting Covid-19 tests may be another reason for lower number of tests.

Bangladesh on Monday registered the recovery of 4,709 people from Covid-19, marking a sharp rise in overall recovery rate to 52.61 percent. With the latest figure, the total number of recoveries reached 98,317.

The country also reported 3,099 new cases of the novel coronavirus after conducting 12,423 tests in 24 hours, and with this the national tally stood at186,894. The daily infection rate is 24.95 percent. 

During the period, another 39 people died from coronavirus infection, bringing the death tally to 2,391. The mortality rate in the country now stands at 1.28 percent.

Dr Nasima mentioned that 1,890 male and 501 female patients died of the deadly disease in the country so far. 

Among the new deceased, 30 were male and nine were female patients. “Of them, one was aged below 10, one between 11 and 20, three between 31 and 40, six between 41 and 50, 13 between 51 and 60, 11 between 61 and 70, three between 71 and 80 and another between 81 and 90 years,” she said.

Nineteen of the patients died in Dhaka division, 15 in Chattogram division, seven in Khulna division, three in Barishal division, two in Rangpur division and two more died in Sylhet division during the period.

According to DGHS data, 1,195 patients have so died in Dhaka division, 623 in Chattogram, 121 in Rajshahi, 128 in Khulna, 105 in Sylhet, 88 in Barishal, 75 in Rangpur and 56 patients died in Mymensingh division.

Thirty-four of the 39 new deceased died at hospitals across the country while five others at their homes.

Across the country, 765 more people were taken to isolation in the last 24 hours while 713 were released. During the period, 2,401 people were home and institutionally quarantined and 3,273 released.

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