The rate dropped to 7.52% on Monday. However, the country has recorded cases 5,20,690 so far.

Also, Bangladesh reported 16 Covid-19 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking the country’s fatality number to 7,734 and death rate to 1.49 percent since the first death was reported on March 18.

So far, 3,331,491 tests, including 13,681 new ones, have been carried out. The overall infection rate stood at 15.63 percent, the Directorate General of Health Services said.

However, 465,279 patients – 89.36 percent – have recovered so far.

The country’s infection number reached the 500,000-mark on December 20. The first cases were reported on March 8. The death toll exceeded 7,000 on December 12

Also read: Bangladesh to get Covid vaccines for 4.5 crore people by May-June

Also read: Covid-19 vaccines: Bangladesh has ‘limited choices’

Also read: Is Bangladesh ready to distribute a Covid-19 vaccine?

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Covid-19 across the world

The worldwide Covid-19 caseload crossed 88 million on early Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The global case count reached 88,140,964 while the death toll climbed to 1,900,380.

The US, the world’s worst-hit country, crossed the grim milestone of 20 million cases on New Year’s Day.

The country’s infection tally reached 21,581,749 and fatalities stood at 365,321 until early Friday.

By mid-December, five in every 100 Americans – more than 16 million – had been infected by Covid-19.

Those numbers testify to a historic tragedy. But they do not fully capture the multitude of ways, large and small, that the virus has upended and reconfigured everyday life in the US.

However, there is a glimmer of hope as the seven-day rolling average of daily new cases fell from 219,345.9 on December 18 to 194,737.7 on January 1 and the seven-day rolling average of daily new deaths dipped slightly from 2,580 to 2,506 during the same period.

Meanwhile, India reported 10,413,417 cases and 150,570 deaths until early Friday. Brazil recorded 200,498 deaths and 7,961,673 infections.

Bangladesh in vaccine race

The government on Thursday approved the emergency use of the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

The approval will allow Beximco Pharmaceuticals to bring doses from the Serum Institute of India, which is manufacturing the vaccine, Mohammad Salahuddin, deputy director of the Directorate General of Drug Administration, said.

On December 13, the government signed an agreement with Serum Institute for procuring Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine.

Under the deal, Bangladesh will import 3 crore doses of SARS-Cov-2 AZD 1222 (Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine) from Serum in the next six months.

“If everything goes well, then we’ll get the vaccines in mid-January,” Health Minister Zahid Maleques said.

The process to bring Oxford-Astrazeneca vaccine would start in January next, said Zahid adding that a decision was taken in principle that Serum Institute would provide the vaccine at the same price they would procure.

On December 28, Bangladeshi pharmaceutical company Globe Biotech got approval from the DGDA for manufacturing Covid-19 vaccine for clinical trials.

Dr Mohammad Mohiuddin, Manager of Globe Biotech Limited (Head of Quality Operation), said after completing the trial, Globe Biotech would start supplying vaccines following the protocol.

“Hopefully, we’ll be able to begin clinical trials in January. It’ll take five months to finish,” he said. “Vaccine will be available by June if we can begin the clinical trial this month.”

The government has been urging people to follow health safety measures. It has also adopted a “no mask, no service” policy to prevent the spread of the virus.