COVID-19 death toll
Bangladesh's daily Covid-19 death toll drops below 60
Bangladesh on Friday reported its single-day Covid-19 death toll of 57, the lowest in 25 days, even though the virus surge still remained at the disturbing level.
The new figure that came in the last 24 hours until Friday morning brought the country's total fatalities to 11,450 while health authorities reported 2,177 new cases during the period.
The infection rate rose to 10.34% from Thursday's 9.39% while the death rate remained static at 1.51%, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The country’s infection rate came down below 10% on Thursday after over a month, as it reported a 7.68% infection rate on March 17 and it rose to 10.45% the following day. Since then, the infection rate began an upward march.
The country recorded 52 coronavirus-related deaths on April 5, 78 on April 27, and 77 on April 28, showing a downtrend. It witnessed over 100 deaths during April 16-19 and on April 25.
With the latest figure, 7,59,132 cases have been detected so far in Bangladesh.
The number of recoveries now stands at 681,426, meaning 89.76% of the patients have recovered till now, the DGHS said.
Bangladesh has so far tested 5,469,704 samples, including 21,046 in the past 24 hours. The country reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
April, the fatal month
In the last 30 days, 23,889 cases of infections and more than 2,404 deaths were officially registered, making April the most fatal month since the outbreak began last year.
The virus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
Dhaka division remains the worst-hit region, registering most of the deaths – 6,686 or 58.39%.
Twenty-eight of the 57 deaths reported today are from Dhaka division and 13 from Chattogram division.
Lockdown extended till May 5
To break the Covid chain, the government enforced a nationwide lockdown in early April. Having failed to achieve the intended results, it imposed a strict lockdown on April 11 and then extended it up to April 28.
On Wednesday, the government issued a circular extending the lockdown up to May 5, as there is no improvement in the Covid-19 situation.
However, shops and shopping malls will remain open from 10am to 8pm during the period, the announcement said.
Vaccination
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses it purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The country signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain. The administering of the first dose remained suspended since Monday.
DGHS DG Prof ABM Khurshid Alam assured that Bangladesh will get 2.1 million doses of vaccine by the first week of May.
Vaccine production in Bangladesh
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs on Wednesday approved in principle a proposal for producing Russian and Chinese Covid-19 vaccines in Bangladesh.
The government on Thursday approved the emergency use of Sinopharm, a Chinese Covid-19 vaccine. It approved the emergency use of the Sputnik V Vaccine of Russia a day earlier.
"We'll get 5 lakh doses of the Chinese vaccine as a gift within 7-10 days. Then we'll start distribution. Then the government will start buying those on a G2G basis," Mahbubur Rahman, Director General of DGDA told reporters on Thursday.
Incepta Pharmaceuticals, Popular Pharma and HealthCare Pharma have the capacity of producing vaccines, and the Chinese vaccine could be produced locally, Mahbubur said.
On Thursday, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary of the Cabinet Division noted that the government will purchase vaccine technology from Russian and China through the direct procurement method (DPM)
India's Covid crisis
The explosion of new Covid-19 cases is overwhelming Bangladesh's largest neighbour India, leaving millions of people infected and putting stress on the country's already overtaxed health care system.
With 386,452 new cases, India confirmed more than 18.7 million on Friday since the pandemic began, the second only to the US.
Its health ministry also reported 3,498 deaths in the last 24 hours, bringing the total to 208,330. Experts said the actual figures were likely much higher but it is unclear by how much.
Months ago, India had appeared to be winning its battle against the pandemic. After a strict initial lockdown, the country did not see a surge in new cases and deaths compared to other countries.
But when the early restrictions were lifted, many people stopped taking precautions with large gatherings, political rallies and religious festivals being held at many places, drawing millions of people.
Bangladesh-India border sealed
On April 26, Bangladesh closed its border with India for any kind of movement except that of cargoes for the next 14 days as the coronavirus situation in the neighbouring country had gone out of control.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Daily deaths shoot past 100; new cases fall dramatically
After a slight fall for several days, Bangladesh’s daily coronavirus death toll crossed the 100-mark again on Sunday with a sharp fall in new cases.
Fatalities climbed to 11,053 with 101 deaths in the past 24 hours until the morning. The virus also infected 2,922 people, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a handout.
The daily infection rate rose to 13.33 percent from Saturday’s 13.11 percent while the mortality rate remained static at 1.48 percent.
Bangladesh has so far confirmed 745,322 coronavirus cases.
Also read: Border with India to remain shut for 14 days: FM
Between April 16 and 19, the country recorded over 100 deaths, breaking all previous records. The country registered 91, 95 and 98 Covid-related deaths on April 20, 21 and 22 respectively.
On April 23 ad 24, the number fell to 88 and 83.
Bangladesh has so far tested 5,345,501 samples, including 21,922 in the last 24 hours.
Global Covid-19 cases cross 144 million
The global Covid-19 caseload has crossed the grim milestone of 144 million as the world is grappling to contain the second outbreak of Covid-19 even with mass inoculations underway.
Deaths from the virus have also topped three million, according to Johns Hopkins University.
To be specific, the total caseload reached 144,757,145 while the fatalities climbed to 3,072,309 on Friday morning.
Also read: How long does protection from COVID-19 vaccines last?
The US is the world's worst-hit country -- the North American nation has registered 31,929,599 cases and 570,345 deaths as of Friday morning.
In Brazil, the Covid-19 death toll mounted to 383,502 and infections topped 14,167,973, as per the latest data.
A new wave of infections has been confronting the South American country, leading to a rise in hospitalisations, deaths and the collapse of a large part of the Brazilian public healthcare system.
Neighbouring country India recorded the world's second highest number of Covid-19 cases, at 16,263,695 to date. The country has so far witnessed 186,095 deaths, listing it among the worst-affected countries in the world.
Also read: Covid situation in Bangladesh unlikely to improve before June: Experts
Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh
Bangladesh recorded 98 coronavirus-related deaths in 24 hours till Thursday as the deadly second wave of the virus overwhelms hospitals and pushes the health sector to its limits.
The virus also infected 4,014 others during the period, the Directorate General of Health Services said in a handout.
Coronavirus deaths now stand at 10,781 with a mortality rate of 1.46 percent, according to DGHS. The daily infection rate fell to 14.63 percent from Wednesday’s 15.07 percent.
On Monday, the country broke all the previous records of Covid-19 deaths registering 112 fatalities. It saw over 100 deaths on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
Health authorities have so far confirmed 736,074 cases. Among them, 642,449 people - 87.28 percent of all patients – have recovered.
Also read: India records world's highest single-day spike in Covid cases
Worldwide COVID-19 death toll tops a staggering 3 million
The global death toll from the coronavirus topped a staggering 3 million people Saturday amid repeated setbacks in the worldwide vaccination campaign and a deepening crisis in places such as Brazil, India and France.
The number of lives lost, as compiled by Johns Hopkins University, is about equal to the population of Kyiv, Ukraine; Caracas, Venezuela; or metropolitan Lisbon, Portugal. It is bigger than Chicago (2.7 million) and equivalent to Philadelphia and Dallas combined.
And the true number is believed to be significantly higher because of possible government concealment and the many cases overlooked in the early stages of the outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019.
When the world back in January passed the bleak threshold of 2 million deaths, immunization drives had just started in Europe and the United States. Today, they are underway in more than 190 countries, though progress in bringing the virus under control varies widely.
While the campaigns in the U.S. and Britain have hit their stride and people and businesses there are beginning to contemplate life after the pandemic, other places, mostly poorer countries but some rich ones as well, are lagging behind in putting shots in arms and have imposed new lockdowns and other restrictions as virus cases soar.
Also read: Global Covid death toll nears 3 million
Worldwide, deaths are on the rise again, running at around 12,000 per day on average, and new cases are climbing too, eclipsing 700,000 a day.
“This is not the situation we want to be in 16 months into a pandemic, where we have proven control measures,” said Maria Van Kerkhove, one of the World Health Organization’s leaders on COVID-19.
In Brazil, where deaths are running at about 3,000 per day, accounting for one-quarter of the lives lost worldwide in recent weeks, the crisis has been likened to a “raging inferno” by one WHO official. A more contagious variant of the virus has been rampaging across the country.
As cases surge, hospitals are running out of critical sedatives. As a result, there have been reports of some doctors diluting what supplies remain and even tying patients to their beds while breathing tubes are pushed down their throats.
Also read: Global Covid-19 cases top 134.5 million
The slow vaccine rollout has crushed Brazilians’ pride in their own history of carrying out huge immunization campaigns that were the envy of the developing world.
Taking cues from President Jair Bolsonaro, who has likened the virus to little more than a flu, his Health Ministry for months bet big on a single vaccine, ignoring other producers. When bottlenecks emerged, it was too late to get large quantities in time.
Watching so many patients suffer and die alone at her Rio de Janeiro hospital impelled nurse Lidiane Melo to take desperate measures.
In the early days of the pandemic, as sufferers were calling out for comfort that she was too busy to provide, Melo filled two rubber gloves with warm water, knotted them shut, and sandwiched them around a patient’s hand to simulate a loving touch.
Some have christened the practice the “hand of God,” and it is now the searing image of a nation roiled by a medical emergency with no end in sight.
“Patients can’t receive visitors. Sadly, there’s no way. So it’s a way to provide psychological support, to be there together with the patient holding their hand,” Melo said. She added: “And this year it’s worse, the seriousness of patients is 1,000 times greater.”
This situation is similarly dire in India, where cases spiked in February after weeks of steady decline, taking authorities by surprise. In a surge driven by variants of the virus, India saw over 180,000 new infections in one 24-hour span during the past week, bringing the total number of cases to over 13.9 million.
Problems that India had overcome last year are coming back to haunt health officials. Only 178 ventilators were free Wednesday afternoon in New Delhi, a city of 29 million, where 13,000 new infections were reported the previous day.
The challenges facing India reverberate beyond its borders since the country is the biggest supplier of shots to COVAX, the U.N.-sponsored program to distribute vaccines to poorer parts of the world. Last month, India said it would suspend vaccine exports until the virus’s spread inside the country slows.
The WHO recently described the supply situation as precarious. Up to 60 countries might not receive any more shots until June, by one estimate. To date, COVAX has delivered about 40 million doses to more than 100 countries, enough to cover barely 0.25% of the world’s population.
Globally, about 87% of the 700 million doses dispensed have been given out in rich countries. While 1 in 4 people in wealthy nations have received a vaccine, in poor countries the figure is 1 in more than 500.
In recent days, the U.S. and some European countries put the use of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine on hold while authorities investigate extremely rare but dangerous blood clots. AstraZeneca’s vaccine has likewise been hit with delays and restrictions because of a clotting scare.
Another concern: Poorer countries are relying on vaccines made by China and Russia, which some scientists believe provide less protection than those made by Pfizer, Moderna and AstraZeneca.
Last week, the director of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention acknowledged the country’s vaccines offer low protection and said officials are considering mixing them with other shots to improve their effectiveness.
In the U.S., where over 560,000 lives have been lost, accounting for more than 1 in 6 of the world’s COVID-19 deaths, hospitalizations and deaths have dropped, businesses are reopening, and life is beginning to return to something approaching normalcy in several states. The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits tumbled last week to 576,000, a post-COVID-19 low.
But progress has been patchy, and new hot spots — most notably Michigan — have flared up in recent weeks. Still, deaths in the U.S. are down to about 700 per day on average, plummeting from a mid-January peak of about 3,400.
In Europe, countries are feeling the brunt of a more contagious variant that first ravaged Britain and has pushed the continent’s COVID-19-related death toll beyond 1 million.
Close to 6,000 gravely ill patients are being treated in French critical care units, numbers not seen since the first wave a year ago.
Dr. Marc Leone, head of intensive care at the North Hospital in Marseille, said exhausted front-line staff members who were feted as heroes at the start of the pandemic now feel alone and are clinging to hope that renewed school closings and other restrictions will help curb the virus in the coming weeks.
“There’s exhaustion, more bad tempers. You have to tread carefully because there are a lot of conflicts,” he said. “We’ll give everything we have to get through these 15 days as best we can.”
Bangladesh again breaks daily Covid death record with 77
Bangladesh recorded 77 more deaths during the last 24 hours till Saturday morning, the highest one-day total since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country.
The new death figure exceeded Thursday’s 74 as the pandemic keeps wreaking havoc across Bangladesh with new variants – “one from the UK and another from South Africa.”
The number of new Coronavirus cases dropped slightly to 5,343 after registering over 7,000 cases for the fifth day in the last six days until Friday, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh on Friday recorded 7,462 news cases which was 6,854 on Thursday. On April 4, the country recorded 7,087 Covid cases and 7,075 the next day. On April 6, the number was 7,213 and 7,626 the next day.
The infection rate slipped to 20.49 percent during this period from 23.57 percent of Friday’s.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh records 7000+ cases for fifth day
With the new 77 deaths, the Covid-19 fatalities rose to 9,661 while the mortality rate remained static at 1.42 percent for two consecutive days.
During the reporting period, 3,837 patients recovered, raising the number of recoveries to 572,378, the DGHS said.
Meanwhile, the government enforced a 7-day lockdown from April 5 to bring the situation under control keeping garment factories and offices open on condition of maintaining health protocols. Later, it allowed public transports movement in city corporation areas and reopened shops and shopping malls within a few days.
Global Covid cases top 133 million
As the world witnesses the worst of the pandemic, the overall number of global Covid cases has now surged past 133 million. The death toll from the virus is also fast nearing the grim milestone of 3 million.
According to Johns Hopkins University (JHU), the total case count reached 133,808,161 while the death toll from the virus mounted to 2,901,072 on Friday morning.
The US has so far recorded 31,001,636 cases and 560,090 deaths, as per the university data.
In the US, nearly half of new coronavirus infections are in just five states -- a situation that is putting pressure on the federal government to consider changing how it distributes vaccines by sending more doses to hotspots, reports AP.
New York, Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey together reported 44% of the nation’s new Covid-19 infections, in the latest available seven-day period, according to the state health agency data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
The Texas Department of State Health Services reported 3,177 new cases, a figure below the state’s seven-day rolling average of 3,314 as computed by Johns Hopkins University researchers. That pushed the state’s pandemic total increased to 3,022,708 with the addition of 1,522 previously unreported Covid-19 cases. The state estimated 65,587 were active.
Researchers said the rolling average of daily new cases over the past two weeks held steady at 3,314 per day, and that 170 new Texas cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks ranked 38th in the nation for new cases per capita.
Also read: Are some Covid-19 vaccines more effective than others?
Brazil on Tuesday registered a record 4,195 deaths from Covid in a single day, taking the accumulated pandemic toll to 336,947, the Ministry of Health said.
In Brazil, 31,279,857 people have tested positive so far, with 345,025 fatalities.
Neighbouring India has recorded 12,928,574 cases and 166,862 deaths as of Friday morning, according to the data.
The coronavirus pandemic started 2021 in the midst of its deadliest phase yet. As the effects of unheeded holiday travel warnings set in and more contagious variants of the virus took hold, parts of North and South America, Europe and the Mideast saw record confirmed cases and deaths in January, reports AP.
Halfway through the first month of the year, the worldwide death toll reached 2 million. Virus-related deaths in the U.S. surpassed 400,000 four days later and hit 500,000 a little more than a month after that. National lockdowns and extended bans on international travel were reimposed as infections climbed again, replaying scenes from the early months of the crisis.
More than 47% of the 190 countries providing ongoing epidemiological data reported increases in the 7-day rolling average for new cases between the end of February and the beginning of March. More than one-third showed Covid-19 deaths on the upswing.
The pandemic, which had been tamed in some places over the summer before roaring back in the final months of last year, still could be more lion than lamb as spring approaches.
Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees highest daily death toll of 74
Vaccination campaign
Nationalism also complicated the largest vaccination campaign in world history.
The AstraZeneca vaccine developed in Britain struggled to win full-throated endorsements elsewhere in Europe.
Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine and vaccines made in China became instruments of geopolitics and tools in international diplomacy. Eager to secure shots for their citizens and to display industrial prowess, Turkey and India signed agreements to produce Sputnik V. The Balkan nation of Serbia jumped ahead in vaccinating its residents by securing both the Russian and Chinese vaccines.
As he prepared to take over the White House, Joe Biden made a commitment to administer 100 million shots during the first 100 days of his presidency. The Food and Drug Administration has authorised three vaccines for use in the US, all developed or co-developed by American companies --Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson.
Also read: Bangladesh begins second phase of Covid-19 vaccination drive
Situation in Bangladesh
As Covid-19 continued its onslaught despite lockdown, Bangladesh registered 74 more deaths in 24 hours till Thursday morning, breaking all its previous records.
The number of new coronavirus cases dropped slightly to 6,854 after remaining over 7,000 for the past four days, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the new 74 deaths, the Covid-19 fatalities rose to 9,521 while the mortality rate remained static at 1.43 percent.
The infection rate slipped to 20.65 percent from 22.02 percent on Wednesday.
During the reporting period, 3,391 patients recovered, raising the number of recoveries to 565,030, the DGHS said.
Covid-19: Bangladesh records 7,087 cases, the highest-ever daily spike
Bangladesh recorded 7,087 fresh Covid-19 cases in the last 24 hours until Sunday morning which is the highest number of infections since the pandemic began.
Besides, the coronavirus fatalities rose to 9,266 with 53 new deaths during the period. The mortality rate fell to 1.45 on Sunday from Saturday’s 1.46 percent.
Also read: Covid-19 vaccine not a 'silver bullet': WHO
Coronavirus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March.
The health authorities recorded over 5000 Covid cases on March 29, 30 and 31 and April 3 while over 6000 cases on April 1 and 2 showing an alarming rise in infections.
The infection rate slightly fell to 23.07 percent from 23.15 percent on Saturday.
Bangladesh has so far recorded 637,364 coronavirus cases, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The number of daily cases and infection rate dropped below 5 percent earlier this year but then infections continue to rise again amid people’s reluctance to maintain health safety rules.
Hospitals are struggling to provide treatment to the increasing number of coronavirus patients with their limited resources. The government is increasing the number of beds and Covid-designated hospitals to deal with the situation.
During the 24-hour period until Sunday morning, 2,707 patients recovered, taking the number of recoveries to 552,482.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and confirmed the first death from the virus 10 days later.
Avoid public gatherings, wear masks to fight Covid surge, PM urges all
EdsSeeking cooperation from all to check the rapid transmission of coronavirus, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Thursday urged people to avoid public gatherings, unnecessary outside stay and wear face masks everywhere.
“This time the virus is spreading very rapidly. This resurgence is not only seen in our country but also throughout the world. So, I would like to tell all that we’ll have to check the coronavirus again this time as we controlled everything in the first time,” she told Parliament.
The Prime Minister made the call participating in the discussion over the condolence motion placed in the first sitting of the 12th session of Parliament at the death of MP Mahmud Us Samad Chowdhury (Sylhet-3).
She said though coronavirus was largely controlled in Bangladesh initially, the sudden surge in the virus infection has recently been seen as people ignored hygiene rules after the Covid-19 inoculation programme started.
Sheikh Hasina said public movement and gatherings went up excessively, though she repeatedly asked all to wear masks and follow the health rules even after getting vaccinated.
Noting that the government has already issued some directives to check the transmission of Covid-19, she said, “We’re trying to bring it under control gradually. But cooperation from people is needed in this regard.”
“I would like to request to pay special attention so that no public gathering takes place anywhere,” she said.
She suggested all to avoid large gatherings of people in social programmes like wedding and return home within a short time after completing their tasks in shops and markets.
“I would like to request all, no matter who is infected or not (by Covid-19), to wear masks always,” said the Prime Minister.
The Prime Minister suggested people to take the hot water steam and use mustard oil in their nose. Though the use of mustard oil is rural practice, it can be effective in many cases, she said.
“I always use mustard oil in my nose whenever go outside after the outbreak of Coronavirus,” she added.
Also read:PM issues directives to tackle Covid-19
Bangladesh reports record number of 5,358 new daily Covid cases; 52 deaths
Bangladesh recorded 52 Coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours till Wednesday, the highest single-day death toll in seven months.
Besides, the country’s health authorities recorded over 5,000 fresh cases for the third straight day.
The latest figures showed 5,358 new cases in a 24-hour period until morning, which pushed up the caseload to 611,295, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
This is the highest number of infections in a single day since the pandemic began.
Besides, the coronavirus fatalities reached 9,046 with the new deaths.
Also read:Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Daily death toll, new cases rise
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
The DGHS said the infection rate jumped to 19.90 percent from 18.94 percent on Tuesday while the mortality rate remained static at 1.48 percent.
During the period, 2,219 coronavirus patients recovered, taking the total number of recoveries to 542,399.
So far, 4,670,576 samples have been tested, including 26,931 in the last 24 hours, the DGHS said.
Among the deceased, 34 people died in Dhaka division, nine in Chattogram, three each in Rajshahi, Khulna, two in Sylhet and one in Rangpur divisions.
Also read:Covid-19 in Bangladesh: 10 more deaths push up toll to 8,451
So far, 5,152 coronavirus patients died in Dhaka division, 1,640 in Chattogram, 504 in Rajshahi, 582 in Khulna, 273 in Barishal, 320 in Sylhet, 374 in Rangpur and 201 in Mymensingh divisions.
Covid-19: Bangladesh records 5000+ cases for 2nd consecutive day
Bangladesh on Tuesday recorded over 5,000 new coronavirus cases for the second straight day, signalling a tough fight ahead for the country as people are still reluctant about following basic health guidelines.
With 5,042 new cases in a 24-hour period until morning, the caseload rose to 605,937, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, the coronavirus fatalities climbed to 8,994 with 45 more deaths recorded until morning.
Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.
The DGHS said the infection rate jumped to 18.94 percent from 18.38 percent on Monday when Bangladesh recorded its highest-ever single day case count (5,181).
During the 24-hour period, 2,162 coronavirus patients recovered, taking the total number of recovered patients to 540,180.
The government has ramped up testing, intensified vaccination campaign and efforts to ensure that the people properly follow health guidelines and hygiene rules.
So far, 4,643,645 samples have been tested – including 26,620 in the last 24 hours, the DGHS said.
Dhaka sees highest Covid deaths
The mortality rate slipped slightly to 1.48 percent on Tuesday.
Among the deceased, 37 people died in Dhaka division, three in Chattogram, two in Rajshahi, two in Khulna and one in Sylhet.
So far, 5,118 coronavirus patients died in Dhaka division, 1,631 in Chattogram, 501 in Rajshahi, 579 in Khulna, 273 in Barishal, 318 in Sylhet, 373 in Rangpur and 201 in Mymensingh.