Reeling from the devastating second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh on Monday saw 231 deaths related to the virus, the highest number since the pandemic hit the country, amid an eight-day pause in the nationwide strict lockdown. The situation is likely to get even worse because of the fallout from the lockdown pause ahead of Eid holidays.   With Covid's Delta variant spreading fast, Bangladesh already tallied more than 1.1 million infections and 18,000-plus deaths from the pandemic. The country's fatalities have been hovering at approximately 200 for the last two weeks. Also, Covid-19 infections in Bangladesh have reached 99% of the peak, with more than 11,828 new cases reported each day. The highest daily average was reported on July 15. Also read: Delta variant in children: Chattogram reveals troubling data The country recorded 13,321 infections in 24 hours till Monday morning after testing 45,012 samples. Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 230 on July 11 and 13,768 infections the next day.

The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh is gradually heading towards a grim level as the country reported 112 more deaths and 7,666 fresh infections in 24 hours till Tuesday morning. With the new infections, the country’s positivity rate reached another peak of 23.97% from Monday’s 23.86% which was recorded 23.57% last on April 9 this year. The percentage reached this shocking level after the test of 31,982 samples during the period, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). New infections have been averaging 5,000 for the past few days – 75% of the peak. Bangladesh is reporting over 100 deaths for the third consecutive day this month. The country saw a record level of 8,436 Covid cases on Monday and the highest 119 deaths on Sunday since confirming its first cases on March 8 last year. With the new numbers, the country’s death toll now stands at 14,388 while the caseload at 904,436. However, the country’s fatality rate remained static at 1.59% while the recovery rate fell to 89.75% following a continuous drop. Read: Massive vaccination to begin in July: PM Of the deaths, 35 were reported in Khulna today, recording the highest among all divisions for the third consecutive day, while 22 in Dhaka, 21 in Rajshahi, 16 in Chattogram, 10 in Rangpur, four in Mymensingh, three in Barishal and one in Sylhet divisions. The Dhaka division remained the highest fatal region recording 7,562 deaths followed by Chattogram with 2,727 deaths, Khulna with 1,235 deaths and Rajshahi with 1,011 deaths.

The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh keeps worsening as 50 new deaths and 3,319 infections were recorded in 24 hours till 8 am Tuesday. The positivity rate fell slightly to 14.27% on Tuesday from Monday’s 14.80%, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Bangladesh recorded more than 50 deaths on May 9 this year and over 3,000 cases on April 27. With the new figures, the country’s death toll now stands at 13,222 while the caseload at 833,291. During the period, the fatality rate remained static at 1.59%, shows the DGHS handout. The fresh cases were detected after testing 23,265 samples during the period, while the country so far tested 6,218,979 samples. As of now, 771,073 people have recovered from Covid infections, putting the country’s recovery rate at 92.53%. Also read: RMCH sees 12 more Covid deaths in 24 hrs Rajshahi and Khulna divisions recorded the highest 15 deaths today, while Dhaka and Chattogram divisions recorded six deaths each; Sylhet and Mymensingh divisions three deaths each and Barishal and Rangpur divisions one death each. Vaccination Drive Bangladesh, the prime recipient of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccines, has suspended the registration for Covid-19 vaccination due to jab shortage amid a delay in the arrival of shipments from India. Some 4,257,499 people got the second dose of this vaccine while the number is 58,20,015 for the first one. Besides, the total number of people receiving their first jab of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine is 2,162.

As a woman tested positive for Covid-19 while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Khulna, her family began the hunt to find a bed for her  at the district's dedicated corona hospital.   However, the reply from Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital was curt -- "not a single bed left, you have to wait for a Covid patient undergoing treatment here to die".   Though the authorities recently increased the number of beds in the hospital's general ward, and intensive care unit (ICU) and high dependency unit (HDU), Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital is scrambling for beds amid a sudden surge in Covid cases in the district.   A reality check by UNB on Monday revealed that four Covid-19 patients died on Saturday while two others succumbed to coronavirus in a span of 40 minutes on Friday.   Those who died on Saturday were identified as Aminur Rahman Molla, 80, of Kalia in Narail district, Nurul Islam, 75, of Sharankhola in Bagerhat district, Mizanur Akon, 45, of Morelganj in Bagerhat, and Rehena Begum, 61, of Khulna city.   Also read: Bangladesh’s Covid death toll nears 11,000 as cases surge   The hospital authorities are literally struggling to deal with the rising cases of Covid as the situation is worsening with each passing day.   Dr Suhash Ranjan Haldar, a spokesperson for the hospital, said that Aminur Rahman was admitted to the hospital on May 31 and breathed his last on June 5.    

Amid the worrying situation of Covid-19 infection in different parts of the world, the global cases surpassed 127 million on Monday. The total case count reached 127,116,964 while the death toll from the virus mounted to 2,783,689, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The US has recorded 30,262,123 cases with 549,335 fatalities. Also read: Global Covid-19 cases top 126.6 million The U.S. has surpassed 30 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 on March 25.The new milestone comes as public health experts show cautious optimism three months into the U.S. vaccination rollout. It is believed that 70% of Americans 65 and older have received at least one dose of the vaccine and COVID-19 deaths are below 1,000 a day on average for the first time since November, reports AP. The federal government is dramatically ramping up vaccine production and several states have already expanded vaccination eligibility to people age 16 and up. Besides, Brazil has registered 12,534,688 cases while the death toll from COVID-19 in the country now stands at 312,206 as of Monday. India’s total tally reached 11,971,624 and the death toll from the virus surged to 161,552 till Monday morning. Situation in Bangladesh A growing number of coronavirus cases and an alarming uptrend in the daily infection rate are posing big challenges to Bangladesh in its fight against the deadly virus. A 2.75 percent rise in the infection rate was recorded on Sunday (17.65 percent) compared to 14.9 percent a day earlier. The country’s health authorities reported 3,908 new cases and 35 Covid-related deaths during a 24-hour period until Sunday morning. Also read: WHO report says animals likely source of COVID   Now, the local fatality tally stands at 8,904, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The country reported its first coronavirus-related death on March 18 last year. Bangladesh, which announced its first cases on March 8 last year, has so far reported 595,714 infections. However, the mortality rate was recorded at 1.4 percent on Sunday which was 1.5 percent on Saturday. So far, 535,941 patients (89.97 percent) have recovered, including 2,019 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS. So far, 4,588,830 samples, including 22,136 in the past 24 hours, have been tested. Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December 2019. Until Sunday, countries around the world confirmed 126.6 million cases with 2.77 million fatalities, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. Also read: 36 countries yet to get Covid jabs: WHO  Fight against Covid Along with a countrywide vaccination drive, the government has taken a tougher stance to tackle the transmission of Covid-19. The Health Ministry sent letters to districts, directing the officials concerned to impose fines on people flouting Covid protocols. Meanwhile, the closure of schools and colleges were extended until May 23 as the situation showed no sign of improvement. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday said she wants quick steps to fight the fresh surge of Covid-19 cases. “We’ll have to take prompt steps as we did in the past,” she said at a virtual discussion. She said health guidelines and safe physical distance will have to be maintained at every programme and the use of face masks must be ensured.

The Covid-19 pandemic continues to spread around the world, with over 124.6 million cases and 2.7 million deaths. The total case count reached 124,688,146 while the death toll from the virus climbed to 545,237 on Thursday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University (JHU). The US, the world's worst-hit country in terms of cases and deaths, surpassed the grime milestone of 30 million confirmed Covid cases on Thursday. Covid-related deaths currently stand at 545,237, as per the university data. More than 85.4 million people, or 25.7% of the US population, have received at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some 46.3 million people, or 14% of the population, have completed their vaccination, reports AP. Brazil topped 300,685 confirmed Covid-19 deaths on Thursday amid a spike in infections. On Wednesday, Brazil's health ministry reported 2,009 Covid-19 deaths, bringing its pandemic total to 300,685. On Tuesday, the country saw a single-day record of 3,251 deaths. Also read: Global Covid-19 cases top 123 million The total caseload in the South American country has now reached 12,220,011. India’s total Covid tally surpassed 11,734,058 while the country’s death toll mounted to 160,441, as per the latest data released by the government. A new and potentially troublesome variant of the coronavirus has been detected in India, as have variants been first detected in the United Kingdom, South Africa and Brazil, health officials said Wednesday, reports AP. Health Ministry officials and experts, however, cautioned against linking the variants with an ongoing surge in new infections in India. Also read; Global Covid-19 death toll hits 2.7 million Cases in India had been plummeting since September and life was returning to normal. But cases began spiking last month, and more than 47,000 new infections have been detected in the past 24 hours, along with 275 deaths -- the highest one-day death toll in more than four months. Situation in Bangladesh Covid-19 claimed 25 more lives and infected 3,567 others in the past 24 hours till Wednesday morning amid an alarming spike in cases over the past few weeks in Bangladesh. The coronavirus fatalities rose to 8,763 with the latest figure while the new cases pushed the total infections to 580,808, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). With the fresh 3,537 cases, Bangladesh has seen the worst daily increase for the second consecutive day since July 15, 2020. The free movement of people ignoring the health protocols is believed to be the reason behind the recent upsurge in cases.  The infection rate slightly dropped to 12.97 percent from 13.69 percent a day before. The mortality rate now stands at 1.51 percent, which remained static at 1.52 percent for the past four days, the directorate said. The DGHS media release says 527,909 patients -- 91.89 percent -- have so far recovered from the virus infection, including 1,915 in the past 24 hours. Also read: Global Covid-19 deaths top 2.67 million The first Covid-19 cases were reported in the country on March 8, 2020, while the first death on March 18 the same year. Coronavirus tests are being conducted at 118 government and private hospitals in Bangladesh. Till Wednesday, some 4,487,686 samples were tested across the country, including 27,502 in the past 24 hours. The Covid-19 vaccination drive is underway across the country aiming to protect people from the virus infection. So far, 4,990,232 people have been vaccinated in the country since the drive began with the Oxford-AstraZeneca jab on February 7. In the wake of a sharp rise in coronavirus cases, Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Wednesday announced that 3,000 more beds will be added to hospitals across the country to tackle the rising number of patients. “The number of Covid patients need to be reduced fast. If the current rate of virus infection continues, it won’t be possible to tackle the situation with the existing arrangements,” he said.  

Bangladesh witnessed a big jump in the number of Covid-19 deaths and infections as health authorities recorded 30 more deaths and 2,809 new cases in the last 24 hours until Monday morning.

The world is fast approaching the grim milestone of 116 million Covid-19 cases, despite a global vaccination rollout.

Bangladesh’s coronavirus fatalities climbed to 8,428 on Wednesday after health authorities recorded 614 more deaths in the last 24 hours till this morning.

Classes in all primary, secondary and higher secondary level educational institutions will resume on March 30.