Bangladesh reported 33 more Covid-linked deaths with 11,596 fresh cases in 24 hours till Thursday morning.

The daily positivity rate further dropped to 25.86 per cent from Wednesday's 27.43 per cent after testing 44,843 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

On Wednesday, Bangladesh reported 36 more Covid-linked deaths with 12,193 fresh cases.

The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,494 while the caseload mounted to 1,835,776.

Among the new deceased, 22 were men and 11 women.

Eighteen deaths were reported in Dhaka division while six in Khulna, four in Rajshahi, two each in Chattogram Sylhet and one in Rangpur divisions.

Also read: Covid-19 restrictions extended until Feb 21

Meanwhile, the mortality rate further declined to 1.55 per cent.

However, the recovery rate also declined to 86.13 per cent with the recovery of 5,955 more patients during the 24-hour period.

In January, the country reported 322 Covid-linked deaths and 2,13,294 new cases while 19,112 recovered from the disease, according to the DGHS.

On January 28, Bangladesh logged its earlier highest daily positivity rate at 33.37% reporting 15,440 cases and 20 deaths.

Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 69 with the detection of five more cases till January 23, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data.

On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing.

The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020.

Besides, the country registered the highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year, while the highest number of daily fatalities was 264 on August 10 last year.

Also read: Covid surge: Closure of schools, colleges extended until Feb 20

Extension of restrictions

The government has extended the period of  the  existing restrictions on people’s movement and other activities until February 21 and imposed two new ones considering the worsening Covid-19 situation in the country.

These restrictions will remain in force from February 7 to 21, said a notification issued by the Cabinet Division on Thursday.

The new restrictions are- gathering of more than 100 people in social, political, religious or state events will not be allowed in open places or indoors and  those who will attend the events must bring Covid Vaccination Certificate or report of RT PCR test underwent within 24 hours.

Besides, in-person classes of schools, colleges and equivalent educational institutions will remain suspended during this period, said the notification.

On Tuesday, the government extended the closure of secondary and higher secondary-level educational institutions by two weeks until February 20.

Amid the growing concern over the Coronavirus’ new Omicron variant, the government on January 13 imposed 11-point restrictions.