Confronting a tumultuous time since reporting its first death from Coronavirus on March 8, 2020 followed by the wrath unleashed by delta variant in 2021, Bangladesh finally reported zero death from the deadly virus in 24 hours till Saturday morning. The country, however, logged 178 more infections during the 24-hour period. Bangladesh recorded its first Covid cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18 of the last year. The daily case positivity rate has declined to 1.18 per cent today from Friday’s 1.40 per cent, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Also read: Bangladesh bracing for third Covid wave? With the fresh numbers, the total fatalities rose to 27,946 while the caseload mounted to 1,573,889. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent. The fresh cases were detected after testing 15,107 samples, the DGHS added. Besides, the recovery rate remained the same as 97.72 per cent with the recovery of 190 more patients during the 24-hour period. Covid-19 Waves On January 12 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City of Hubei Province in China. On December 31, 2019, China reported to the WHO some cases of pneumonia with unknown causes. Bangladesh was hit by the Covid-19 pandemic along with many other countries across the globe on March 8 last year when Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) reported the first three cases. During mid-January to the first week of March, 2021 the infection rate remained below 5 and from the last week of March 2021, the infection and death toll gradually increased suggesting the start of the second wave of Covid-19 in the country.

The current trend of plummeting Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh could well be the obvious calm before a cataclysmic storm. The warning has come from some of the leading public health experts in Bangladesh, who are apprehensive of a third wave of the Covid pandemic. At the heart of their fears are children below 12 who remain out of the vaccine coverage and the elderly people. These experts fear a slow pace of vaccination, waning vaccine immunity, sheer disregard for Covid-safety protocols, reopening of schools and increased travel may set the stage for another Covid wave in Bangladesh -- a trend many European countries are witnessing now. Also read: Covid vaccines to be administered in all schools to vaccinate students Current situation Bangladesh on Thursday reported five more Covid deaths and 244 fresh corona cases in 24 hours. With the latest figures released by the Directorate General of Health Services, the death toll and the caseload in the country have reached 27,939 and 1,573,458, respectively. Some 33,995,948 people have fully been vaccinated in the country, while 52,983,555 received the first dose as of Wednesday, according to the directorate. Read Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Experts urge caution as third wave looms