Positivity rate
Covid-19: Bangladesh’s daily positivity rate hits 19.27%; 78 more die
The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh is getting worse day by day as 78 more people died in 24 hours till Monday morning with its daily positivity rate hitting 19.27%, the highest in two months.
During the period, 4,636 new cases were detected after the tests of 24,057 samples, said a handout issued by the Directorate General of the Health Services (DGHS).
With the new numbers, the death toll in Bangladesh reached 13,626 today while the caseload rose to 856,304.
However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.59%, said the DGHS handout.
So far, 785482 people have recovered from the virus infections taking the recovery rate to 91.73%, showing a downtrend for more than a week.
Also read: Lockdown in 7 districts from Tuesday as Covid cases soar
Of the fresh cases, 1,837 were detected in Dhaka, 945 in Khulna and 799 in Rajshahi divisions, the three regions that showed the highest infections during the 24-hour period.
Of the deceased, 23 were reported in Dhaka, 15 in Rajshahi, 14 in Khulna, 11 in Chatogram, nine in Rangpur, three in Barishal, two in Sylhet and one in Mymensingh divisions.
7 districts go under emergency lockdown
The government has announced a 9-day lockdown in Narayanganj, Gazipur, Munshiganj, Manikganj, Rajbari and Gopalganj districts from Tuesday as the Covid-19 situation continues to worsen across the country.
The Cabinet Division issued a circular in this regard.
The circular said the lockdown will remain in force from 6 am on June 22 to June 30 midnight.
However, emergency services like transportation of agricultural equipment and inputs (seeds, fertilizer, insecticides, agri machinery), crops, food items, relief activities, health services, Covid-19 vaccination, water, power, gas, fire service, port activities, telephone, internet services, mass media (electronic and print), private security services, postal services and offices related to emergency services, their employees, vehicles will remain out of the purview of the restrictions, the circular added.
Bangladesh logs 54 Covid deaths, 3,050 new infections, both highest in nearly a month
Eds: Updates with details
Dhaka, June 14, (UNB) – Amid the desperate bid to procure vaccines for all, Bangladesh reported 54 Coronavirus-related deaths and 3,050 new cases in 24 hours until Sunday morning, both the highest in around a month.
The country last recorded 56 deaths on May 9 and 3031 cases on April 27.
With the new numbers, the country's total caseload stood at 8,29,972 while death toll at 13,172, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services.
Besides, the case positivity rate today jumped again to 14.80% from Saturday’s 12.99% while the fatality rate remained static at 1.59%, showed the DGHS handout.
READ: India reports 80,834 new COVID-19 cases
New cases were detected after testing 20,602 samples during the period while the country has so far completed testing 61,95,714 samples.
However, 7,68,830 people have recovered from the infection so far, putting the recovery rate at 92.63% today.
Fourteen of the deaths recorded today were from Chattogram division while 13 deaths each from Dhaka and Rajshahi divisions.
READ: Covid-19: 12 patients die at RMCH in a single day
Also, seven died in Khulna, five in Rangpur, one each in Barishal and Mymensingh divisions.
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 42,532,526 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.
However, Bangladesh will start administering Sinopharm and Pfizer vaccine doses from June 19, said Health Minister Zahid Maleque today.
The health minister earlier said Pfizer vaccine shots will be given at four centres in Dhaka to those who have already registered.
So far, four vaccines – Oxford-AstraZeneca (Covishield), Sputnik-V, Sinopharm, and Pfizer-BioNTech – have got the approval for emergency use in Bangladesh.
Vaccine procurement update
Bangladesh will soon receive 10 lakh and 800 doses of AstraZeneca vaccine soon under COVAX facility, said Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Friday.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the US conveyed the message of this development to the Foreign Minister.
Bangladesh, earlier sought 2 million doses of AstraZeneca vaccine doses from the US for addressing Bangladesh's immediate needs but the US is yet to reply on that particular request.
Meanwhile, the second consignment of the Sinopharm vaccine, amounting to some 600,000 doses, arrived here on Sunday afternoon as a gift from the Chinese government.
READ: As COVID-19 cases wane, vaccine-lagging in USA still see risk
Two special flights of Bangladesh Air Force were sent to transport 6 lakh Sinopharm vaccine doses and other medical supplies from China.
Just nine days after the arrival of the first batch of 500,000 doses of gifted vaccine in Bangladesh, China announced the provision of the second batch of gift doses to Bangladesh.
Bangladesh has also received 100,620 doses of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine on June 1.
Also, seven million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca Covishield vaccine have already reached Bangladesh and India.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Positivity rate hits 14.12%, highest in 50 days
Bangladesh registered 1,637 new Covid cases with the positivity rate hitting 14.12% in 24 hours until Saturday morning.
The positivity rate went up again from Friday’s 13.39 percent, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
This is the highest in 50 days since April 23 this year when the country reported 14% Covid positivity rate.
Also read: Covid-19: Positivity rate now 62% in Natore sadar, municipality
Besides, 39 people died due to Covid-19 during the period, pushing up the death toll to 13,071, while the caseload reached 8,24,486 with the logging of the new cases.
However, the fatality rate rose to 1.59% from Friday’s 1.58%, said the DGHS handout.
Of the deceased, Khulna division recorded the highest 11 deaths while Dhaka division 10.
Also read: Bangladesh loses 43 more lives to Covid-19, toll crosses 13,000
Meanwhile, seven people died in Rajshahi, six in Chattogram, two each in Rangpur, Barishal and one in Sylhet divisions.
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Positivity rate crosses 10 pc again; 40 more die
Bangladesh witnessed a sharp rise in Covid-19 cases and fatalities as it recorded 40 more deaths and 1675 cases in 24 hours until Tuesday morning.
The Covid positivity rate rose to 10.08 percent again during the period after maintaining it below 10 percent since May 15.
Read: Bangladesh reports two ‘black fungus’ cases, one suspected death
The country had been seeing below 40 deaths since May13.
Health authorities registered 1,675 new cases after testing 16,624 samples during the 24-hour period.
Besides, the mortality rate remained static at 1.57 percent, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the latest figures, the total caseload reached 7,92,196 and the death tally climbed to 12,441.
Bangladesh’s recovery rate now stands at 92.50% with 1,279 recoveries during the period.
As of now, 7,32,810 people have recovered from the disease.
Eighteen of the 40 deaths recorded today were from Chattogram division while from Dhaka division. Four died in Rajshahi, three each in Khulna, Barishal, Rangpur and one in Sylhet divisions.
Bangladesh so far carried out 58,54,919 sample tests since reporting its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on March 18, 2020.
Worst coming in June-end
With Covid cases keep soaring in frontier districts apparently because of the highly contagious Indian variant, experts fear that Bangladesh may face the worst outbreak of the deadly virus at the end of June next.
They said if the B.1.617, known as the Indian variant, can make its way into other areas from the bordering districts, Bangladesh is likely to witness more than 20,000 cases a day in early July, raising the fatality rate sharply.
Lack of necessary oxygen supply and other healthcare facilities may aggravate the situation, according to the experts.
Terrifying scenario along border
Though the country’s average Covid positivity rate was below 10 percent till Monday, it was very high in different districts along the Indian border.
Chapainawabganj was the worst-hit district with 55 percent infection rate, forcing the local administration to enforce a 7-day strict lockdown from today.
Besides, the positivity rate was over 40 percent in Rajshahi.
The infection rate was also high in some other frontier districts like Satkhira, Jashore, Jhenaidah, Dinajpur, Meherpur, Chuadanga, Sylhet and Moulvibazar.
Talking to UNB, DGHS spokesman Robed Amin said, Covid patients with Indian variants were found in bordering districts, including Chapianwabganj, Rajshahi and Jashore. “It’s alarming news. As this variant spreads fast, the infection rate may continue to surge seriously, if people show apathy to masking up and abiding by health safety rules.
Vaccination
Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute.
The administration 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.
However, the administering of the 1st dose of Chinese Sinopharm vaccine against Covid-19 began in Bangladesh on Tuesday.