Although the number of Covid tests marked a sharp fall during the eid holidays, the rate of infection of the virus did not fall in the country, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Sunday.

“The number of tests was low as a little number of samples was collected during the last seven days due to the eid holidays. As a result, the total number of patients has declined. But in terms of percentage, the infection rate did not fall below 30 percent. Instead, the infection rate was 32.55 percent on July 24 (Saturday),” said DGHS spokesman Prof Nazmul Islam.

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Speaking at a virtual press briefing on the country's Covid situation, he said the number of sample collection and Covid tests will increase significantly within a few days.

Nazmul said Dhaka is the worst-hit district in terms of Covid infection with more than four lakh identified virus cases.

He said the other badly affected districts are Chittagong Cumilla Sylhet, Bogra, Narayanganj, Khulna and Faridpur.

Nazmul said Rajshahi is the least affected district with only 16,416 patients.

In terms of divisional death rate, the DGHS official said Dhaka is now on top followed by Khulna.

Dr Nazmul said lockdown is an effective way to slow down virus transmission. “We’ll be able to contain the uptrend of the virus transmission by making the ongoing lockdown a success with active support from all.”

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He urged those eligible for vaccination to complete the registration through the government-approved ‘Surokkha’ app to receive the vaccine doses quickly. 

Replying to a question, Nazmul said experts are examining the mobile ventilators that came from the United States. “These ventilators will be set up at different places based on necessity.”