Bangladesh recorded two more Covid-linked deaths with 278  fresh cases in 24 hours till Thursday morning. With the latest numbers, the total fatalities reached 29,300 while the caseload 2,006,646, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The daily case positivity rate dropped to 5.14 per cent from Wednesday’s 6.53 per cent as 5,404 samples were tested. The deceased included a man and woman from Sylhet division. The mortality rate remained unchanged at 1.46 percent. The recovery rate rose to 96.97 per cent from Wednesday’s 96.95 per cent. Read: Global Covid cases top 585 million In July, Bangladesh reported 142 Covid-linked deaths and 31,422 cases, the highest death toll and cases in the last five months since March this year, as per DGHS. Among the deceased, 57 were unvaccinated while seven received the first dose, 52 the second dose and 26 the third dose, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Besides, 34,901 patients recovered from the disease during this period. Bangladesh reported its first zero Covid death on November 20 last year since the pandemic broke out here in March 2020. The country registered its highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year and daily fatalities of 264 on August 10 in the same year.

Covid-19 claimed 36 more lives and infected 1,457 others in Bangladesh in 24 hours till Thursday morning. With the latest figure, the number of fatalities rose to 12,284, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The daily infection rate slightly declined to 7.50 percent from Wednesday’s 7.83 percent while the mortality rate remained static at 1.56 percent, it said. The new cases pushed up the total caseload to 7,85,194. The total number of recoveries is 7,27,510, including 1378 in the last 24 hours. This puts the country’s recovery rate at 92.65% Bangladesh is now seeing a steep rise in the numbers of both daily deaths and cases after a decline during the Eid holidays.   The number of tests is seeing an increase as around 20,000 samples were tested during the past two days  which mostly remained below 20,000 since May 7. So far, the country has carried out 57,74,883 sample tests since reporting its first cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month. Vaccination drive  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 a record number of cases in India has made the delivery of the doses uncertain. The administring of the first dose 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. In the past 24 hours, no one received the first dose of the vaccine while 53,915 have received the second dose, said the health directorate. Vaccine supply update Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Thursday said the government is making its best efforts to get vaccines connecting multiple countries -- the United States, China, Canada, Russia and the UK -- apart from its continuous request to India to meet Bangladesh's urgent needs. He said the discussion with China is almost at the final stage while they are expecting a positive reply from the US on the vaccine front.   Bangladesh received 5 lakh China’s Sinopharm Covid-19 vaccine doses, donated by the Chinese government to Bangladesh, on May 12 the administering of which will begin by May 25-26, said the Health Minister. Bangladesh will receive a minimum 1,06,000 doses of Pfizer vaccine under the COVAX scheme, co-led by Gavi on June 2, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said Tuesday. Besides, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) on Wednesday approved a proposal of the Health Services Division to import the Sinofarm Covid-19 vaccine.

The United Arab Emirates reported 15 additional cases on Saturday of a new and fast-spreading virus, bringing the total number of infections in the country to 45.