death toll
Brazil's COVID-19 death toll tops 600,000
Brazil, which has the world's second-highest death toll from COVID-19 behind the United States, saw its death toll exceed 600,000 on Friday.
According to the latest data from the Ministry of Health, the South American nation logged 600,425 deaths and 21,550,730 cases, after registering 615 deaths and 18,172 cases in the last 24 hours.
Brazil managed to emerge from the healthcare collapse caused by the second wave of COVID-19 infections between March and June, and is currently in a stable situation, with an average of 453 deaths per day, the lowest figure since November 2020.
READ: BGMEA seeks duty-free access to Brazil for RMG products
It took the country 111 days to go from 500,000 COVID-19 deaths to 600,000, in contrast to the 51-day period it took to jump from 400,000 to 500,000 deaths registered in the first half of the year.
Brazil has the third-largest caseload worldwide, after the United States and India.
READ: South America World Cup 2022 Qualifiers: Argentina, Brazil to face Uruguay in October
According to official data, Brazil has fully vaccinated 97.2 million people, or 45.5 percent of the population, while 148.8 million people, or 69.7 percent, have received one dose.
Covid in Bangladesh: Concern grows as daily death toll crosses 200-mark again
As Bangladesh continues to struggle with the deadlier 2nd wave of Covid-19 , the country lost 204 more lives in 24 hours till Saturday morning, setting off growing concern among people.The virus also infected 8,489 others during the period.The new figures took the death tally to 17,669 and caseload to 10,92,411, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Also read: Bangladesh to get another three million doses of Moderna Covid jabs: US envoy
The fresh cases were detected after testing 29,214 samples during the period which took the positivity rate to 29.06% from Friday’s 28.96 % .However, the fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.61% during the period.Bangladesh logged 187 deaths and 12,148 fresh cases on Friday. The country saw a record number of 13,768 Covid cases on Monday last and the highest-ever 230 deaths on Sunday.On a positive note, 8,820 Covid-19 patients have recovered during the 24-hour period. The total number of recoveries now stands at 9,23,163 and the recovery rate at 84.51 percent.Dhaka saw the year’s highest deaths as 82 people died in the capital during this time.Besides, 49 people died in Khulna division, 32 in Chattogram, 20 in Rajshahi, 10 in Rangpur, five in Barishal, four in Mymensingh and two died in Sylhet division. Of them, 125 were men and 79 were women.
Also read: 187 more die in Bangladesh as Covid havoc continues
Two were between 11-20 years old, five were within 21-30, 12 between 31-40, 25 between 41-50, 58 between 51-60 and 102 were above 60 years old, according to the DGHS handout.
Moghbazar blast: Death toll rises to 11
The death toll from Sunday's Moghbazar building blast rose to 11 as another man succumbed to his burn injuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Thursday noon.
The deceased was identified as Md Russell, 21, son of Jasim Uddin, an employee of Bengal Meat, hailing from Thakurgaon district.
Russell sustained 90 percent burns in the explosion on June 27 and since then he had been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery of the DMCH.
Read: Moghbazar blast: Death toll rises to nine
He breathed his last around 2:15 pm today, said Dr Partha Shankar Pal, resident medical officer of the hospital.
His body has been kept at the hospital morgue for autopsy, said Md Bachchu Mia, police inspector at the DMCH police camp.
Earlier in the day, Mohammad Nur Nabi, 30, a van-puller, died while undergoing treatment at the same hospital.
On Sunday evening, seven people were killed and more than 66 others injured after a powerful explosion ripped through a building near Moghbazar Wireless Gate.
On Tuesday, firefighters pulled out the body of a 65-year-old security guard from the debris of a three-storey building where the deadly blast occurred.
Read:Moghbazar blast: Another body found in debris; death toll stands at 8
Besides, another victim, Imran Hossain, succumbed to his injuries at the burn unit of the hospital on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, police formed a seven-member committee to investigate the blast.
The committee has been asked to investigate the explosion and recommend prevention of such incidents in the future. It will also coordinate with the committee formed by the Fire Service and Civil Defence.
Both the committees have seven working days to submit their reports.
Read:Moghbazar blast: Police file case against unknown persons
Moghbazar blast: Death toll rises to nine
The death toll from Sunday's Moghbazar building blast rose to nine as one more person succumbed to his burn injuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) early on Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Imran Hossain, 25, an employee of Bengal Meat, and son of Abdul Mujib Bhuiya of Sadar upazila in Tangail district.
Read:Moghbazar blast: Another body found in debris; death toll stands at 8
Imran sustained 90 percent burns in the explosion on June 27 and since then he had been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit of Sheikh Hasina National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery.
He breathed his last around 6am on Wednesday, said Bachchu Mia, inspector of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital police outpost.
On Tuesday, firefighters pulled out the body of a 65-year-old security guard from the debris of a three-storey building where the deadly blast occurred.
The body of security guard Harun-ur-Rashid was recovered around 3.30 pm, the deputy director (operations) of Fire Service and Civil Defence, Debashish Bardhan, had said.
Earlier that day, police lodged a case against unidentified persons for causing death due to negligence in connection with the blast.
Read:Moghbazar blast: Police file case against unknown persons
An FIR in the case was filed at the Ramna police station on a complaint by sub-inspector Rezzaul Karim, Officer-in-charge Monirul Islam told UNB.
Eight people were killed and more than 66 others injured after a powerful explosion ripped through a building near Moghbazar Wireless Gate on Sunday evening.
The next day, police formed a seven-member committee to investigate the blast.
Additional police commissioner of Counter Terrorism and Transnationals Crime (CTTC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) will head the committee, the Bangladesh Police Headquarters said in a release on Monday.
The committee has been asked to investigate the explosion and recommend prevention of such incidents in future. It will also coordinate with the committee formed by the Fire Service and Civil Defence, said the release.
Read:Police announce committee to probe the Moghbazar explosion
Earlier that day, Brig. Gen. Md Sazzad Hussain, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said that they had formed a five-member committee to investigate the explosion.
Both the committees have seven working days to submit their reports.
Alarming Covid surge in Khulna division; death toll crosses 1,000
Amid the worsening Covid-19 situation in Khulna division, health authorities reported 30 deaths in the division in 24 hours till Monday morning, bringing the total death toll to over 1,000.
Besides, 1,464 people were found infected with the deadly virus during the 24-hour period, taking the total tally to 53, 631 in 10 districts of the Khulna division.
Rasheda Sultana, director (Health) of Khulna division, said nine people died in Kushtia while six in Khulna, four each in Meherpur and Jhenaidah, two each in Chuadanga and Bagerhat and one each in Satkhira, Jashore and Narail districts under the Khulna division.
Also read: Khulna division sees 20 Covid deaths in a day
So far, 1,011 people have died in the division while 36,978 recovered from the virus.
Dr Sheikh Sadia Monowara Usha, medical officer at the Khulna Civil Surgeon office, said six people have died in 24 hours in Khulna district while 299 found infected after conducting 768 tests. The infection positivity rate now stands 40%.
Dr Suhash Ranjan Haldar of Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital said 169 people are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Also read: 28 more Covid deaths recorded in a day in Khulna
Some 41 people were admitted to the hospital with Covid-19 symptoms in the past 24 hours till Monday morning, he said.
Covid-19: Bangladesh’s daily positivity rate hits 19.27%; 78 more die
The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh is getting worse day by day as 78 more people died in 24 hours till Monday morning with its daily positivity rate hitting 19.27%, the highest in two months.
During the period, 4,636 new cases were detected after the tests of 24,057 samples, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of the Health Services (DGHS).
With the new numbers, the death toll in Bangladesh reached 13,626 today while the caseload rose to 856,304.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.59%, said the DGHS handout.
So far, 785482 people have recovered from the virus infections taking the recovery rate to 91.73%, showing a downtrend for more than a week.
Also read: Lockdown in 7 districts from Tuesday as Covid cases soar
Of the fresh cases, 1,837 were detected in Dhaka, 945 in Khulna and 799 in Rajshahi divisions, the three regions that showed the highest infections during the 24-hour period.
Of the deceased, 23 were reported in Dhaka, 15 in Rajshahi, 14 in Khulna, 11 in Chatogram, nine in Rangpur, three in Barishal, two in Sylhet and one in Mymensingh divisions.
7 districts go under emergency lockdown
The government has announced a 9-day lockdown in Narayanganj, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Rajbari and Gopalganj districts from Tuesday as the Covid-19 situation continues to worsen across the country.
The Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard.
The circular said the lockdown will remain in force from 6 am on June 22 to June 30 midnight.
However, emergency services like transportation of agricultural equipment and inputs (seeds, fertilizer, insecticides, agri machinery), crops, food items, relief activities, health services, Covid-19 vaccination, water, power, gas, fire service, port activities, telephone, internet services, mass media (electronic and print), private security services, postal services and offices related to emergency services, their employees, vehicles will remain out of the purview of the restrictions, the circular added.
Covid: Bangladesh's daily positivity rate jumps to 18.59%; 54 lives lost
Bangladesh's daily Covid-19 test positivity rate rose to 18.59% while the death toll to 13,399 with 54 new fatalities in 24 hours until early Friday amid the extension of the ongoing countrywide lockdown till July 15.
The new positivity rate is the highest in two months. On Thursday, the daily test positivity rate dropped to 15.44% from Wednesday's 16.62%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
Also, 3,883 fresh cases were reported in the past 24 hours, after testing 20,822 samples, taking the total caseload to 844,970.
However, the fatality rate remained static at 1.59 % during the same period and the recovery rate dropped to 92.12% from Thursday's 92.32%.
Read: Resolution adopted seeking equitable access to Covid vaccine
Chattogram division recorded the highest 15 deaths, while Rajshahi and Dhaka 12 each, Khulna eight, Barishal four, Sylhet two, and Mymensingh one.
Correlation between death rate and cases observed
To get an accurate measure of death rate, the number of infected people should be used as the denominator and the deceased as the numerator – both of which occurred and ended within a specified time, Dr AM Zakir Hussain, former director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research, told UNB.
"But for a disease like Covid-19, which still rages on, the rate should be considered in reference to a specific and relevant time. A recent assessment showed that the highest number of deaths occurred 14 days after the highest number of Covid-19 cases – a situation that still prevails in Bangladesh and India. So, the current method for estimating death rate is not accurate," he said.
What's test positivity?
The Covid-19 positivity rate indicates, among other things, the number of people showing clinical features of the disease or the percentage of individuals suffering from the disease. Such estimation has two errors, Dr Zakir said.
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"One, an RT-PCR test, based on the present method of sample collection, misses about one-third of the actual cases. Two, when more than 20 cycles of diagnostic procedures are repeated even a single virus in a sample would show a positive result, which, however, will not indicate that the person who gave the sample will transmit the infection to others or that they will come down with the disease. An RT-PCR test shows positive results even when the virus is dead," he added.
Mass vaccination expected to resume by July
The government halted administering the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine on April 26 considering the dwindling stock of its jabs.
Also, registration for the Covid-19 vaccination remained suspended amid uncertainty over the availability of promised vaccine doses from India's Serum Institute.
Read: Migrants listed in priority list for Covid-19 vaccine
However, the mass vaccination of Covid-19 is expected to resume in July next as the government is making all-out efforts to collect vaccines, said Principal Secretary Dr Ahmad Kaikaus Thursday. "The government has allotted a fund of Tk14,000 crore for the procurement of vaccines as it’s an all-out effort to ensure Covid jabs for all."
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany) and Crona Vac (China) vaccines.
'Covid to fizzle out in another year'
"Covid-19 will disappear as a pandemic or epidemic. It may either disappear totally like SARS-CoV-1 or become a seasonal disease like another four Coronavirus strains which affects 30% of the global population every year in the form of common cold and fever," said Dr Zakir.
Read:CPD dialogue calls for urgent cash transfers to COVID-hit households
"This will happen because, in another year, too many people will be exposed to the infection from the viral strain SARS-CoV-2 and will develop immunity to the virus. The other four Coronavirus strains which infect people will also impart partial immunity to SARS-CoV-2. Also, some people have an innate resistance to a disease for different reasons."
COVID-19 cases rise to 24,372,907 in India, death toll reaches 266,207
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in India rose to 24,372,907 and the death toll reached 266,207 on Saturday morning, India's federal health ministry said.
During the past 24 hours, 326,098 new cases and 3,890 related deaths were reported across the country.
According to the ministry, 20,432,898 people have been discharged from hospitals after showing improvement.
Read: India widens gap between two doses of Covishield to 12-16 weeks
The number of active cases in the country is 3,673,802, according to the ministry.
Meanwhile, a total of 313,017,193 samples have been tested across the country, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) said Saturday. Out of these tests, 1,693,093 were conducted on Friday alone.
According to the ministry, 18,0457,579 people have been vaccinated across the country since the beginning of the vaccination drive on Jan. 16.
On May 1, the third phase of COVID-19 vaccinations was started for people who are 18 years old and above. However, the third phase of vaccination is yet to start in many places or is going on at a slower pace in wake of the severe shortage of vaccines.
The confirmed cases continue to spike in the country every day, and the federal government has ruled out imposing a complete countrywide lockdown on the pattern of last year to contain the worsening situation. However, many states have imposed night curfews, weekend lockdowns and complete lockdowns to break the spread.
Read: India to begin Covaxin vaccine trials for children
A top scientific adviser to the Indian government, K Vijay Raghavan recently warned the country would face a third wave of the pandemic.
Currently, India is fighting a deadly second wave of COVID-19, and the shortage of essential medical supplies including medical oxygen has emerged as a key challenge for the government.
31 more lose lives to Covid, death toll reaches 12,076
Covid-19 claimed 31 more lives in Bangladesh, including 13 in Dhaka division, in the past 24 hours until Thursday morning, showing a fall in fatalities compared to the previous day.
The country saw 40 Covid deaths on Wednesday and 33 on Tuesday. The latest number took the official Covid-related death count to 12,076.
However, the mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.55%, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh also confirmed 778,687 Covid-19 cases with 1,290 people coming out positive in 13,371 tests over the same period.
The daily infection rate rose to 9.58% from Wednesday's 7.45%, while the recovery rate stood at 92.41%.
Bangladesh has so far carried out 5,690,693 tests since reporting its first Covid-19 cases on March 8 last year and the first fatality from the virus on the 18th of the month.
Also read: India returnee tests Covid-19 positive in N’ganj, house put under lockdown
The country experienced a surge in Covid-19 cases in April and the daily cases fell below 2,000 in early May. Also, it has been seeing below 60 daily deaths for a week after recording over 100 fatalities on several occasions in April.
Dhaka hit hardest
Dhaka has remained the worst-hit division, recording 6,985 fatalities or 57.84% of the total deaths until now. Of the total daily deaths, 13 deaths were reported from Dhaka alone and nine from Chattogram.
Lockdown falls flat ahead of Eid
The nationwide lockdown, imposed on April 4 to break the chain of Covid-19 infections and fatalities, has been extended till May 16 to limit public movement or contain the surge in daily infections.
Officials of all government, semi-government autonomous and private organisations, banks and financial institutions have been asked not to leave their workstations during the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr holidays.
However, the lockdown measures fell flat ahead of the upcoming Eid celebrations.
The DGHS has expressed concerns that mass travel could lead to a resurgence of infections as the restrictions could not deter people from travelling to their village homes ignoring health risks.
Also read: Covid-19 claims 40 more lives, infects 1,144 others
At least five people died and 50 others injured Wednesday in a stampede as thousands of people returned to their native villages from Dhaka and other cities for Eid-ul-Fitr, defying Covid-19 restrictions.
Vaccination drive
In late January, countries including Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka started receiving vaccine doses through donations from India and other countries and commercial deals.
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The government signed an agreement with Serum for 30 million doses. But India temporarily halted exports of vaccines on March 24 to prioritise domestic requirements, following an explosion in Covid cases and fatalities in the country. The move has left the region with a serious shortage of vaccines.
The administering of the first dose in Bangladesh has remained suspended since April 26. Also, the country, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 jabs due to vaccine shortage amid a delay in the timely arrival of shipments from India.
5 lakh Chinese vaccine doses arrive
Bangladesh on Wednesday received 5 lakh doses of China's Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine as a gift.
The development came after the World Health Organization (WHO) listed the Sinopharm vaccine for emergency use, giving a nod for it to be rolled out globally.
Bangladesh was initially reluctant to receive the Chinese vaccine until it got the WHO green signal but the second wave of the pandemic forced the country's health authorities to approve the jabs alongside Russia's Sputnik vaccine to continue its vaccination drive.
South Asia: The new global hotspot?
South Asia, home to a quarter of the world's population, is fast becoming the new global hotspot of the Covid-19 pandemic. Extremely low vaccination rates across South Asia have also put millions of lives in the region at risk.
Also read: Indian states asked to stop people from dumping bodies of COVID-19 victims into Ganga
India and Nepal's healthcare systems are reaching breaking point. The virus is spreading and crossing borders at a frightening speed. Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan and Sri Lanka are also seeing a surge.
The new Indian variant of coronavirus has been detected in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, prompting authorities to axe travel corridors with India. It has been designated a variant of concern by the WHO that might be more contagious than most versions of the coronavirus.
India's COVID-19 death toll surpasses 250,000
India's COVID-19 death toll crossed the 250,000-mark as the total number of cases surpassed 23 million on Wednesday, confirmed the federal health ministry.
While the death toll rose to 254,197, the COVID-19 tally reached at 23,340,938.
As many as 4,205 deaths, the highest so far, were registered during the past 24 hours, as a spike of 348,421 cases was recorded since Tuesday morning.
Read:Scientists race to study variants in India as cases explode
There are still 3,704,099 active cases in the country, with a decrease of 11,122 cases in the past 24 hours. This is the second consecutive day when a decrease in active cases was witnessed.
A total of 19,382,642 people have been cured and discharged from hospitals so far across the country.
As the COVID-19 figures continue to peak, the federal government has ruled out a complete lockdown to contain the worsening situation. Some states have imposed night curfews or partial lockdowns.
Principal Scientific Advisor to India's Federal Government K. Vijay Raghavan recently said a third COVID-19 wave was "inevitable" in the country.
Delhi has been put under a third successive lockdown till May 17. While some school examinations are cancelled, others have been postponed.
India's nationwide vaccination drive was kicked off on Jan. 16, and the third phase of vaccination for people aged above 18 began on May 1. Over 175 million vaccination doses have been administered to the people across the country.
Read:11 die in India hospital due to disruption in oxygen supply
Meanwhile, the federal government has ramped up COVID-19 testing facilities across the country, as over 307 million tests have been conducted so far.
As many as 307,583,991 tests were conducted till Tuesday, out of which 1,983,804 tests were conducted on Tuesday alone, said the latest data issued by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) on Wednesday.
Two types of vaccines, the Covishield vaccine and the Covaxin vaccine, are being administered in India. Meanwhile, the country received its first doses of Russian-made Sputnik-V on May 1.