43 more deaths from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours have taken the death toll from the pandemic in Bangladesh to 1,545.
Furthermore, 3,412 new infections have been confirmed, taking the total number of Covid-19 patients in the country to 119,198.
Prof Nasima Sultana, additional director general (administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), delivered the updates on the Covid-19 situation in the daily online bulletin yesterday afternoon.
Fatality rate 1.30%
Of the 43 deceased, 16 were reported in Dhaka Division, 15 in Chittagong, six in Rajshahi, two each in Khulna and Mymensingh, and one each in Barisal and Sylhet, Prof Nasima said.
They included 38 men and five women. One of the deceased was between 11-20 years in age, one from 31-40, six from 41-50, 18 from 51-60, 10 from 61-70, five from 71-80, and two were over the age of 80.
30 of them died at various hospitals, 12 at home, and one was declared dead on arrival at a hospital, she added.
The overall death toll now accounts for 1.30% of all infected persons recorded.
On June 16, Bangladesh recorded 53 deaths from Covid-19, the highest number of deaths from the virus recorded on a single day in the country, so far.
Deaths from the coronavirus infection crossed the 1,000 mark in Bangladesh on June 10 and the country crossed the 100 mark on April 20. The country recorded its first fatality on March 18.
20.94% test positive in 24hrs
The DGHS official said as many as 17,563 samples were collected between Monday and yesterday mornings.
Of them, 16,292 samples were tested at 63 authorized labs -- both government and private -- across the country.
With 3,412 of the tests coming back positive, the detection rate of new patients in the last 24 hours stood at 20.94%, Prof Nasima said.
The number of confirmed Covid-19 cases in Bangladesh crossed the grim 100,000 mark on June 18. The first cases were confirmed on March 8.
On June 17, Bangladesh recorded 4,008 new coronavirus cases, the highest in a 24-hour span so far.
In all, 627,719 tests have been conducted in the country, Prof Nasima added.
Recovery rate 40.38%
In the briefing, the DGHS official said that 880 more Covid-19 patients have recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours.
So far, 47,635 people – 39.96% of all infected -- have made full recoveries from the deadly virus.
“680 people have been put in isolation in the past 24 hours and 220 were released. Currently, 12,927 people are in isolation.
“At the same time, another 2,414 people have been put under home and institutional quarantine, and 2,164 were released. At present, 64,146 people are in quarantine across the country,” The DGHS additional director general added.
Prof Nasima also said that three labs will begin Covid-19 testing. These are the RT-PCR lab at Dhaka University’s Advance Science Research Institute, DNA lab, and Sheikh Russel Gastro Liver Institute and Hospital.
She urged the general public to be aware of the current situation and follow health directives issued by the government.
Covid-19 is a severe acute respiratory illness caused by the new strain of coronavirus Sars-CoV-2. The virus broke out in China's Wuhan in December 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world, becoming a pandemic in less than three months.