United News of Bangladesh

The Covid-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh decreased with health authorities reporting three more deaths and 197 infections in 24 hours till Friday morning. The daily-case positivity rate slightly decreased to 1.12 per cent from Thursday’s 1.32 per cent. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent. The fresh cases were detected after testing 17,446 samples, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Read: Bangladesh logs another 7 Covid-linked deaths, 247 fresh infections With the fresh numbers, the Covid-19 fatalities reached 27,890 while the caseload climbed to 15,70,681, according to the DGHS. Also, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.70 per cent with the recovery of 178 more patients during the period. So far, 30,208,700 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 43,101,199 received the first dose as of Wednesday, according to the DGHS. Read: Possible winter wave of Covid: What measures experts suggest to tackle it Meanwhile, the campaign to vaccinate the school students of the 12-17 age group began in Dhaka on Monday. The vaccination campaign will be conducted at eight centres in the capital although it was scheduled to begin at 12 centres in the city. Other centres did not get approval due to lack of adequate facilities.

Covid-19 in Bangladesh claimed 17 more lives and infected 1,178 others in 24 hours till Wednesday morning, showing a slight decline in the number of fatalities and cases compared to that of the previous day. On Tuesday, the country logged 31 Covid deaths and 1,310 cases while 21 on Sunday, the lowest in four months. The fresh cases were detected after testing 28,599 samples. Read: Hasina's 'haseen' birthday gift: Over 66 lakh inoculations in single day

Enforcing social distancing is easier said than done in Dhaka, a city where the average home is less than 120 square feet and a million people live in cheek-by-jowl urban slums. In the capital's Korail Bosti, an informal settlement of over 1 lakh residents, people live packed together, and few have access to health care. Social distancing is a way of controlling the infectious Covid-19. But maintaining physical distance and personal hygiene to stop the outbreak seems impossible here. There are homes of just one room with a family of six to seven people living inside. Also, shared kitchens, toilets, communal water sources, open sewers, non-existent waste disposal systems and the dwellers' poor economic conditions make them more vulnerable. As the pandemic unfolded in the country, the slums of the city were feared to become virus hotspots. However, there has been no evidence so far that Covid-19 wreaked havoc on the slums. Covid-19 is a rich man's disease, believe many slum dwellers and do not find it necessary to wear a mask. And it is unthinkable to enforce social distancing there where people live in very close quarters. Virologists say that the urban slums, including Korail, were always vulnerable not only to Covid-19 infections but also to all other viral diseases. However, a recent study, carried out by the icddr,b found 71 per cent of slum dwellers in Dhaka have developed coronavirus antibodies.  The icddr,b conducted the study "Drivers of Covid 19 in Slums and Non-slum Areas of Dhaka and Chattogram" on slum and non-slum areas in Dhaka and Chattogram between October last year and February this year. The slum dwellers might be already affected by a virus that works as a bulwark against Covid, protecting many poor people living there, according to experts.

On the eve of schools reopening in Bangladesh after almost 18 months, the head of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has announced that students returning to school from Sunday will not be allowed to consume their tiffin or any food on the school premises, as part of the safety protocols that are being carefully stipulated ahead of the doors opening tomorrow morning.  “Students won’t be  able to have their tiffin on school premises," said Dr. Syed Md. Golam Faruk, who serves as  Director General of DSHE. "The institutions will only allow drinking water." Dr Faruk was responding to reporters' questions after inaugurating the Sylhet Government Women's College's Guardian Camp on Saturday (September 11th) morning. During this time he also requested the parents to avoid gathering at the school premises unnecessarily, for the sake of social distancing. 

Bangladesh logged 38 more Covid-19 deaths and 2,325 cases in 24 hours till Friday morning, showing a further decline in single-day fatalities and cases. The country reported 58 Covid-related deaths and 2,588 cases on Thursday, indicating a slight increase in both cases and fatalities. But the daily case positivity rate dropped a bit to 8.65  per cent from Thursday’s 8.76 per cent suggesting that the pandemic may be easing in Bangladesh. The fresh numbers pushed the country’s total fatalities to 26,832 while the cases reached 15,27,215 according to a DGHS handout. Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh kicks off 2nd dose mass vaccination campaign

Maintaining the downtrend in the pandemic situation, Bangladesh reported 70 Covid-related deaths and 3,167 new cases in 24 hours till Friday morning. However, the positivity rate rose a bit to 10.76 % from Thursday’s 10.40 % during the period. Bangladesh logged 88 Covid-19 deaths and 3,436 cases on Thursday. The fresh numbers pushed the country’s total fatalities to 264,32 , while the cases reached 15.10,283, according to Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Read: Bangladesh reports 88 Covid-19 deaths in past 24 hours: DGHS The country last saw 112 Coronavirus-related deaths on June 29 and the upswing in the fatalities reached its peak on August 5 and 10 when 264 deaths were recorded. The new cases were detected after testing 29,438 samples during the last 24 hours, the DGHS said. The recovery rate rose to 95.52per cent, while the case fatality remained static at  1.75 per cent compared to the corresponding period. Read: Global Covid cases near 219 million However, the situation was much more catastrophic from June to the better part of August as the country experienced a surge of Covid-related caseloads and deaths during that time. Between May and June this year, there was a 273% rise in monthly caseloads and 162% in fatalities. In July, there was a 150% increase in caseloads and a 170% rise in deaths compared to the previous month, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday told Parliament that the government has taken steps to get over one crore coronavirus vaccine doses every month. “Steps have been taken to ensure more than one crore vaccines every month,” she said. She made the statement while answering a tabled question from ruling party MP Shahiduzzaman Sarker during PM’s question-answer session. Sheikh Hasina said that as per the schedule Bangladesh will get two crore vaccine doses each month from Sinopharm from next October. Until December some six crore jabs will come from Sinopharm, she said. She also said that so far (August 30) some 1,82,89,018 persons got first dose of vaccine while 78,40,169 persons got second shot. In total 2,61,29,187 doses of vaccines have been given. Read: Decision on vaccinating school students soon: DGHS DG “Collection of vaccines is on while providing the shots free to the people,” she said. The prime minister said that the government has established contacts with all vaccine producing organisations.

The government aims at vaccinating two crore people against Covid by next month, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said on Tuesday. The minister said this at a virtual programme on the occasion of the National Mourning Day, held at Manikganj Government Boys High School ground in Manikganj district. “We have tried our best to keep people well during the pandemic,” he said. READ: Vaccine sharing: Dhaka wants EU to be more generous

The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 and dying from the virus has continued to fall in Bangladesh, the latest daily figures show. Bangladesh added 117 new fatalities to its national tally Friday – down from 145 logged a week earlier on August 20. The average number of Covid-related fatalities confirmed each day has dropped by more than 110 over the last three weeks, 46% of the previous peak. The country reported below 100, 77 fatalities, on June 26, the highest fatality number – 264 – on August 5 and 10, and 16,230 infections on July 28. Bangladesh is now seeing a sustained drop in the daily case numbers, reporting 5,059 new cases on average each day – 35% of the peak. The highest daily average was reported on August 3. Read: Bangladesh to receive 60 lakh more Pfizer vaccine doses in Aug: Minister

Bangladesh logged 120 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours till Saturday morning, the lowest in about two months amid concern over the unlocking of the country from restrictions imposed to check the spread of the virus. The country last saw 119 Coronavirus related deaths on June 27 and the upward curve of the fatalities reached its peak on August 5 and 10 with 264 deaths. Besides, 3,991 more people came out positive with the virus after testing 23,882 samples during the last 24 hours, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The fresh number pushed the country’s total fatalities to 25,143 while the cases reached 1,457,194. Read: US okays Covid booster dose for those with weak immune systems Meanwhile the case positivity rate fell to 16.71 % from Friday’s 17.18% , said the DGHS. The country last recorded 16.38% daily case positivity rate on June 20. The recovery rate rose to 93.02 %, but the case fatality increased to 1.73 % compared to the same period. Among the new deaths, 40 died in the Dhaka division, 27 in Chattogram , 15 in Khulna, 13 Sylhet, nine in Rajshahi, seven in Rangpur, six in Mymensingh and three in Barishal division. Read Dengue vs. COVID-19: Symptoms, when & where to test, ways of prevention Of them 69 were male and 51 female. The country is currently seeing around 170 deaths and 6,800 cases on a seven day average. Meanwhile, the government managed to vaccinate 6,395,466 with two doses, while another 16,386,203 people have received the first dose to date, said DGHS.