Bangladesh reported 36 more Covid-linked deaths with 8,359 fresh cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning. The daily positivity rate further rose to 23.83 from Friday’s 22.95 percent after testing 35,074 samples during the period, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The daily positivity rate followed a downtrend until Saturday since being recorded at 33.37 per cent on January 28 with 15,440 cases and 20 deaths. On Friday, Bangladesh reported 30 more Covid-linked deaths with 9,052 fresh cases. The fresh numbers took the country’s total fatalities to 28,560 while the caseload mounted to 1,853,187. Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 30 more deaths with 9,052 fresh infections Among the new deceased, 21 were men and 15 women. Twenty-five of the deaths were reported in Dhaka division while three in Khulna, two each in Chattogram, Rangpur, Mymensingh, and one each in Rajshahi and Sylhet divisions. Meanwhile, the mortality rate declined to 1.54 percent. However, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 86.04 percent with the recovery of 7,017 more patients during the 24-hour period. In January, the country reported 322 Covid-linked deaths and 2,13,294 new cases while 19,112 recovered from the disease, according to the DGHS. On January 28, Bangladesh logged its earlier highest daily positivity rate at 33.37% reporting 15,440 cases and 20 deaths. Bangladesh’s total tally of Omicron cases reached 69 with the detection of five more cases till January 23, according to GISAID, a global initiative on sharing all influenza data. On December 9 last year, Bangladesh again logged zero Covid-related death after nearly three weeks as the pandemic was apparently showing signs of easing. Also read: EIB provides €250mn to support Covid-19 immunisation in Bangladesh The country reported this year’s first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year along with 178 infections since the pandemic broke out in Bangladesh in March 2020. Besides, the country registered the highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year, while the highest number of daily fatalities was 264 on August 10 last year.

Bangladesh reported 22 more coronavirus-related deaths in the last 24 hours till Thursday morning, pushing up the country's fatalities to 12,480. Besides, 1,292 more people were found positive for Covid-19 after testing 15,915 samples during the period. The daily positivity rate declined to 8.12 percent  from Wednesday’s 9.11 percent, said the Directorate General of Health Services. Read:AstraZeneca: Govt's desperate efforts yet to yield any good news Health authorities logged 17 Covid-related deaths on Wednesday, the lowest number in 68 days.The country saw 16 Covid-19 deaths on March 18 last. The fatality rate remained at 1.57% . The recovery rate stood at 92.47% as 1,291 people recovered in the last 24 hours. The overall recovery number is 7,35,157 till date. With the fresh cases, the country’s total caseload reached 7,94,985. The country has carried out 58,87,268 sample tests since reporting its first cases on March 8 last year and the first death on March 18, 2020. Vaccination drive update Bangladesh launched its vaccination drive on February 7 with Oxford-AstraZeneca doses purchased from India's Serum Institute. The administration of the first dose 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. Cabinet body okays procurement of 1.5 cr Sinopharm vaccine The Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase on Thursday gave final approval to a proposal of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry to procure 1.5 crore Chinese Sinofarm Covid-19 vaccine. Read:Cabinet body okays proposal to procure 1.5 crore Chinese Sinopharm vaccine As per the approval, the Health Services Division of the Health and Family Welfare Ministry will procure a total of 15 million (1.5 crore) vaccine in the next three months—June, July and August. Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal presided over the Cabinet body meeting.  “Each month 5 million doses of vaccine will be imported from the Chinese firm”, Dr Shahida Aktar, additional secretary to the Cabinet Division, told reporters while briefing on the outcomes of the cabinet body meeting.