As the Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh has taken a turn for the worse again, 82 more people died of coronavirus in 24 hours until Sunday morning.

This is the highest daily death toll in the last 52 days as the country logged 88 deaths on April 29 this year.

During the period, 3,641 more Covid cases were detected after the test of 22,231 samples, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

This takes the test positivity rate to 16.38% today from Saturday’s 18.02%.

However, the country's fatality rate remained static at 1.59%.

With the new numbers, the country’s caseload now stood at 851,668 while the death toll at 13,548, said the DGHS handout.

As of now, 782,655 people have recovered from the disease taking the recovery rate to 91.90%.

Also read: Bangladesh to start administering Pfizer vaccine doses Monday

Bangladesh’s recovery rate has been falling for more than a week now.

Of the fatalities, Khulna division reported the highest number of 32 deaths for the second consecutive day while Dhaka division 21, Rajshahi 12, Chattogram nine, Mymensingh four, Sylhet two and Barishal and Rangpur divisions one each.

Pfizer vaccine rollout Monday

Bangladesh’s health workers are gearing up to start administering the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in capital Dhaka on Monday with 100,620 doses of vaccine from COVAX facility.

Prof Shamsul Haque, Line Director of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) and a member of the Vaccine Distribution Committee, disclosed it in a health briefing on Sunday.

The vaccine will be administered first at three hospitals in Dhaka-Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Sheikh Russel Gastro-liver Institute and Kurmitola General Hospital.

Those who got registered earlier for vaccination will get priority, Prof Haque added.

Also read: Khulna sees record 28 deaths in a single day

In each of these centres, 120 people will be vaccinated every day from 9 am to 3 pm.

People getting vaccinated in the first run of Pfizer vaccine will be monitored for 7-10 days before the regular vaccination programme with Pfizer is launched, said Dr. Shamsul Haque.

On May 27, the government approved the emergency use of Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine in the country.

Vaccination with Sinopharm shots underway

Bangladesh on Saturday started administering Sinopharm vaccine doses across the country, aiming to fight the Covid-19 pandemic.

The vaccination started in the capital and elsewhere of the country with 11 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine gifted by China, said the DGHS.

The vaccine doses are being administered at four hospitals in Dhaka district -- Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, Sir Salimullah Medical College and Hospital, and Mughda Medical College and Hospital.

Also read: 10 more die of Covid at RMCH in a single day

Health workers and police personnel, students of government and private medical and dental colleges, students of government institutes of nursing and midwifery, residents of dormitories of public universities, officers and employees working in important national projects, expatriate workers, cleaners, those who are engaged in burial and those who were excluded from vaccination earlier and citizens of other countries who are working here will be vaccinated on a priority basis.

A consignment of 600,000 doses of China’s Sinopharm jabs arrived here on June 13, nine days after the arrival of the first batch of 500,000 doses gifted by Beijing.

Bangladesh is now administering the 1st doses of Sinopharm vaccine and the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.

So far 3,720 people received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, including 764 in the past 24 hours.

Of the Astrazeneca vaccine, 4,270,322 people received the second shot and 5,820,015 the first one so far.