As the Covid-19 situation started worsening again, Bangladesh recorded 2,537 new cases in 24 hours until Wednesday morning, taking the total caseload to 8,17,819.

The virus claimed 36 more lives during the period that pushed up the number of fatalities to 12,949, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).   

The number of infections and deaths is on the rise in different frontier districts amid fear expressed by experts that these districts will face a serious healthcare crisis as their hospitals are not equipped enough to face any worsening situation.   

Health authorities detected the new cases after testing 20,584 samples during the period. 

The daily infection rate increased to 12.  33 percent from Tuesday’s 12.12 percent while the mortality rate remained static at 1.58 percent.  

Read: 7 Covid patients die at Khulna hospital

So far, 7,57,569 people have recovered from the disease with 2,267 new ones.   

Among the deceased, the highest 10 people died in Khulna division.   

The deadly virus claimed nine lives in Rajshahi division, six in Dhaka, six in Chattogram, six in Khulna, four in Rangpur and one in Sylhet divisions.   

Among these deaths, 17 were men and 19 women.   

Read: In Khulna, a scramble for Covid hospital beds

Of the deceased, one belonged to the age group of 21-30 years old, two between 31-40 years old, four between 41-50, eight between 51-60, and 21 were above 60 years’ old.

According to the DGHS handout, Khulna is the hardest hit district in Bangladesh in terms of fatality as 10 people died in the division in 24 hours.

So far, 295 people have died of Covid-related complications at Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital, according to an official.

Besides, authorities have recorded 81 new cases on Tuesday, after testing 279 samples, reports UNB’s Khulna correspondent.

Of the new cases, 39 people are from Khulna, 26 from Bagerhat, two each from Jashore and Pirojpur, and one each from Gopalganj and Jhenidah districts, officials said.  

Read: TIB: Private hospitals too expensive for Covid-19 treatment

Dr Suhash Ranjan Haldar, Resident Medical Officer of Khulna Medical College, said 129 people are currently undergoing treatment at its dedicated Covid facility.

Of them, 63 have been kept in the red zone, 28 in the yellow zone, 20 in the intensive care unit (ICU) and 19 in the high dependency unit (HDU).

Vaccination drive

Bangladesh, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India.

Some 42,28,741 people got the second dose of this vaccine while the number is 58,20,015 for the first one.

Also read: Pragmatic talks underway over vaccine procurement, coproduction: Ambassador Li

Besides, the total number of people receiving their first jab of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is 2,162.

So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the approval for emergency use in Bangladesh.

Global Covid caseload nears 174 mln

Notwithstanding a drop in the number of fresh cases in several countries, the global Covid-19 caseload is fast approaching the 174-million mark.   

The global case count and fatalities stand at 173,887,864 and 3,744,378, respectively, as of Wednesday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU).

Also read: Global Covid caseload nears 174 million

So far, some 2,176, 376,755 people have been jabbed globally, as per JHU data.

Condition in India

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 28,996,473 on Tuesday, with 86,498 new cases reported in 24 hours, said the federal Health Ministry. This is the lowest single-day spike in India in more than two months.

Besides, 2,123 deaths were reported during the period, pushing up the death toll to over 350,000, according to the ministry.