Bangladesh recorded 77 more deaths during the last 24 hours till Saturday morning, the highest one-day total since the Covid-19 pandemic hit the country. The new death figure exceeded Thursday’s 74 as the pandemic keeps wreaking havoc across Bangladesh with new variants – “one from the UK and another from South Africa.”    The number of new Coronavirus cases dropped slightly to 5,343 after registering over 7,000 cases for the fifth day in the last six days until Friday, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Bangladesh on Friday recorded 7,462 news cases which was 6,854 on Thursday. On April 4, the country recorded 7,087 Covid cases and 7,075 the next day. On April 6, the number was 7,213 and 7,626 the next day. The infection rate slipped to 20.49 percent during this period from 23.57 percent of Friday’s. Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh records 7000+ cases for fifth day With the new 77 deaths, the Covid-19 fatalities rose to 9,661 while the mortality rate remained static at 1.42 percent for two consecutive days. During the reporting period, 3,837 patients recovered, raising the number of recoveries to 572,378, the DGHS said. Meanwhile, the government enforced a 7-day lockdown from April 5 to bring the situation under control keeping garment factories and offices open on condition of maintaining health protocols. Later, it allowed public transports movement in city corporation areas and reopened shops and shopping malls within a few days.

Amid an alarming surge in Covid-19 cases, Bangladesh recorded 5,683 fresh cases and 58 deaths in the last 24 hours until Saturday morning. The health authorities recorded over 5000 Covid cases on March 29, 30 and 31 while over 6000 cases on April 1 and 2. The infection rate slightly fell to 23.15 percent from 23.28 percent on Friday when the country recorded 6,830 cases, the highest since the beginning of the pandemic. On Thursday, the number of new cases was 6,469 and on Wednesday, the number was 5,358. The number of daily cases and infection rate dropped below 5 percent earlier this year but then infections continue to rise again amid people’s reluctance to maintain health safety rules. Hospitals are struggling to provide treatment to the increasing coronavirus patients with their limited resources. The government is increasing the number of beds and Covid-designated hospitals to deal with the situation. Bangladesh has so far recorded 630,277 coronavirus cases, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). During the 24-hour period until Saturday morning, 2,364 patients recovered, taking the number of recoveries to 549,775. Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and confirmed the first death from the virus 10 days later. The country has so far tested 4,752,661 samples, including 24,100 in the last 24 hours, the DGHS said. Meanwhile, the fatalities rose to 9,213 with the new deaths. The mortality rate fell to 1.46 on Saturday from Friday’s 1.47 percent. Coronavirus claimed 568 lives in January this year, 281 in February and 638 in March. Among the latest victims, 39 died in Dhaka division, 12 in Chattogram, One each in Rangpur and Mymensingh, three in Khulna and two in Barishal division. So far, 5,267 coronavirus patients died in Dhaka division, 1,664 in Chattogram, 508 in Rajshahi, 592 in Khulna, 276 in Barishal, 327 in Sylhet, 377 in Rangpur and 202 in Mymensingh divisions. So far 6,925 men (75.17) and 2,288 women (24.83) died of Covid-19. Also read: Govt to enforce 7-day lockdown from Monday: Quader Govt set to impose ‘lockdown’ On Saturday, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said the government is set to announce a seven-day lockdown from Monday to stem the spread of coronavirus. Meanwhile, State Minister for Public Administration Farhad Hossain said the decision for a countrywide lockdown for seven days would come within “two to three days”. In a video message, he said the institutions providing emergency services would be open during the lockdown. “Industries and factories will remain open too,” he said. “Workers will have to follow health guidelines and work in shifts (during that period).” Also read: Restriction on gatherings, quarantine rule among PMO’s 18-point directive to contain Covid surge Govt strengthens protective steps The daily surge prompted the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to issue an 18-point directive on March 29 to prevent the virus’ transmission. On the same day, the Health Ministry proposed strict measures like partial lockdowns for some places with higher Covid-19 transmission rates. Vaccination drive The government launched a countrywide vaccination campaign on February 7 with doses received from the Serum Institute of India. Bangladesh inked an agreement with Serum in December last year for 30 million doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. Serum is supposed to supply the doses between January and June this year – 5 million each month. Also read: Global Covid cases top 130 million Global situation Coronavirus cases were first reported in China in December 2019. The world hit another grim Covid-19 milestone on Saturday, as the total caseload surpassed 130 million and 2.8 million deaths so far, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University. A number of vaccines have been developed to fight the virus. Most notable of them are those made by Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Oxford-AstraZeneca.