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. Read: Record high 82 million-plus people displaced despite Covid: UN "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."

A seroprevalence study in Chattogram has shown the presence of anti-coronavirus antibodies in 65% of Covid-19 patients in Chattogram. The study enrolled both those who tested positive for the virus, and those who tested negative but were treated as Covid patients based on symptoms, and observed them over a 6-month period. The antibodies were found in about 90 percent of those who tested positive for the virus in an RT-PCR test, and 26% of RT-PCR negative patients. Physicians at Chittagong General Hospital conducted the research on 1530 people (989 who tested positive, and 541 who tested negative)from October 2020 to April 2021 to investigate the presence and persistence of antibodies produced by the body as an immune response to Covid-19. Also read: Bangladesh detects first case of Indian Coronavirus strain The objectives of the study apart from finding the presence of antibodies were to gather information on the socio-economic status of the patients, what symptoms were present in them at the time of infection and whether there were any long-term complications after recovering from Covid. Although participants of the research were selected on random basis, majority of them were male (75%) and employed (60%). Their main symptoms after contracting Covid-19 were fever (92 percent), cough (63 percent), and loss of sense of smell (52 percent). Symptoms such as sore throat, headache, diarrhoea, shortness of breath, etc. have also been observed. Many of the affected people were already suffering from chronic diseases like diabetes (15 percent), high blood pressure (23 percent), respiratory complications (9 percent) and heart disease. After recovering from Covid, about 57 percent of them had long-term symptoms  including physical weakness, pain, anxiety, fatigue, cough, hair loss, etc. Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh sees 45 more deaths with 1285 new cases Dr. Md. Abdur Rob, the head of the research team, said, “We have been treating Covid patients for a long time. This study is very timely in order to know more about Covid-19 in more detail about patients' symptoms, long-term complications after recovery and the presence of antibodies." Dr. Mohammad Asif Khan, Coordinator of the research work, said that there is no alternative to such research to improve the medical science in the reality of our country as directed by the Hon'ble Prime Minister. "This is the first example of a district-level hospital conducting research on its own initiative. We hope that this initiative will encourage self-managed research in the medical field," he said. In light of the data collected, Dr. HM Hamidullah Mehdi said that one of the successes of this study is that a large number of infected patients have been included in it and the data has been collected through direct interviews and tests. The results of the study will make the government's ongoing COVID-19 vaccination program more acceptable and dynamic. Also read: Indian Covid Strain: Two more cases identified in Jessore Dr. MA Kabir Chowdhury, who is in charge of data and data analysis, said that while analyzing the data collected in the study, they have found some important information, such as the presence of antibodies in the body of RT-PCR positive patients for more than 6 months. The findings were presented today at the conference room of the Chattogram General Hospital. Barrister Mahibul Hasan Chowdhury Nawfel, Deputy Minister for Education and Chairman of the Management Committee of the 250-bed Chattogram  General Hospital was the chief guest on the occasion. He said the 250-bed Anderkilla General Hospital in Chittagong was the first and only place of recourse for Covid-19 patients in Chittagong after the corona virus entered the country. Initially, the hospital was in dire need of medical equipment for the treatment of patients suffering from covid, but now it is fully capable.

Brac will start antigen-based Covid-19 rapid testing for suspected patients from Saturday (April 24, 2021) to provide results in a shorter time amid a new surge in Covid-19 cases across the country. The service, set to be run under the supervision of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), will be available at 16 testing booths – 15 in Dhaka and one in Chattagram – set up by Brac. The testing facility will gradually be expanded to Brac's 32 testing booths in Dhaka and four in Chattogram. Read NGOs urged to design plan of action taking Covid-19 into consideration Brac is adding rapid antigen testing to its existing facility of collecting samples for Covid-19 reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests. The booths are open from 9am to 12noon from Saturday to Thursday. Each of the booths can collect and analyse 150 samples a day. For the detection of Covid-19, the RT-PCR test is being widely used in Bangladesh now, which takes at least 24 hours or more to get the results. But, an antigen test will deliver the result within 30 minutes, which will add pace to the government's Covid-19 testing, Brac said. Read Brac engaging with communities to build Covid-19 resilience To support the DGHS, the organisation is operating 41 walk-in sample collection booths across the country. Morsheda Chowdhury, director of Brac Health, Nutrition and Population Program, said: "To tackle the second wave of Covid-19, there is no alternative to maintain health advisories, along with testing suspects and referring them for isolation."  Read Country's largest Covid-19 dedicated hospital opened in Dhaka Who and how to get the service Anyone who has been referred by a registered physician, experiencing Covid-19 symptoms, or has been in contact with a confirmed Covid-19 patient, is eligible to undergo the test through Brac operated booths. Based on symptoms and case history, the organisation's staff will decide whether a person needs an antigen test or RT-PCR test. However, if someone tests negative in an antigen test despite having symptoms, their samples will be tested again through RT-PCR test. People will have to apply online to get the service at the Brac booths.  Read Bangladesh allows antigen-based Covid-19 tests

The government has allowed antigen-based rapid testing for Covid-19 at hospitals and health institutes across Bangladesh.

India saw another spike as the health authorities announced 96,551 cases in the past 24 hours on Friday as it ordered retesting of many people whose first results were from the less reliable rapid antigen tests being widely used.

In an effort to avoid unnecessary tests of Covid-19, the government has fixed the coronavirus test fee on Monday.

The first two cases of a rare disease affecting children, called Multisystem Inflammatory Disease in Children (MIS-C) that may be linked with Covid-19, have been successfully treated in Bangladesh, according to a physician of Evercare Hospital (formerly Apollo) in Dhaka.

Although he recovered from coronavirus, the health condition of Gonoshasthaya Kendra (GK) founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury deteriorated on Tuesday.

An online medical board comprising local and foreign doctors has been formed for the treatment of ailing Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury.

The condition of Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury remained unchanged as his lungs have been infected with Covid pneumonia.