The Covid-19 death toll across the country has reached 544, with 22 deaths reported on Wednesday.
Of these deaths, 158 have been recorded between May 21 and 27. This accounts for a staggering 29% of the total fatalities caused by Covid-19 so far.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh on an average saw more than 1,600 (1,650) Covid-19 cases during the same period as 1,541 people tested positive for the deadly virus in the past 24 hours, pushing up the total number of confirmed patients to 38,292.
Additional Director General (Administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Prof Nasima Sultana, revealed the latest figures from Dhaka on Wednesday afternoon, in a daily online bulletin on the coronavirus situation.
She said, of the deceased, 20 were men and two were women. Of those, 10 were from Dhaka division including five in Dhaka city, three in Dhaka district, and one each in Narsingdi and Munshiganj.
“Two were from Chittagong district, three in Noakhali, two in Comilla, two in Chandpur, one each in Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet, and Moulvibazar,” Dr Nasima added.
She said one of the deceased was below ten, two between 21 and 30 years of age, two between 31 and 40, two between 41 and 50, seven in their 51 and 60, seven between 61 and 70, and one between 71 and 80.
“Of the victims, 21 died while undergoing treatment at different hospitals and one died at home,” she added.
The death toll accounts for 1.42% of the total infected.
Bangladesh recorded the highest number of Covid-19 deaths (28) in a single day on May 24 and reached the grim milestone of 500 deaths from the deadly disease on May 25.
The country crossed the 100-mark in deaths on April 20.
Prof Nasima, also the DGHS acting director general (DG), said as many as 7,843 samples were collected in the past 24 hours, while 8,015 (including the pending samples) were tested in 48 labs across the country.
In all, 266,456 tests have been conducted so far, she said.
Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh | |
Total deaths | 544 |
Total cases | 38,292 |
Total recoveries | 7,925 |
Total tests | 266,456 |
New deaths | 22 |
New cases | 1,541 |
New recoveries | 346 |
New tests | 8,015 |
On May 25, Bangladesh recorded 1,975 Covid-19 cases -- highest in a 24-hour span, since the first cases reported back in March.
In the briefing, the DGHS acting DG said that 346 more Covid-19 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours.
So far 7,925 people (20.70% of all infected) have made full recovery after being infected by the novel coronavirus.
Dr Nasima said 281 people were sent to isolation over the past 24 hours span, taking the number of people currently in isolation to 4,994 across the country.
A total of 271,104 people were put to home and institutional quarantine since the beginning. Of those 214,408 were released while 56,696 are in quarantine currently.
“The country’s selected hospitals are equipped with altogether 13,264 isolation beds, 399 intensive care units (ICUs), and 106 dialysis units,” she added.
‘Follow health safety guidelines while returning to Dhaka’
The additional DG urged holidaymakers to properly maintain and follow the health safety guidelines put in place by the government while returning to Dhaka after Eid.
Requesting the travellers to wear masks when outside, she said: “Whenever anyone goes out, they must wear a mask. Maintain social distancing to protect each other from the virus.
“We must wash our hands with soap and water frequently. We also have to refrain from touching our eyes, mouth, and nose until we have cleaned ourselves accordingly,” she added.
On March 8, health authorities in Bangladesh reported the first case of Covid-19, 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 last year and quickly spread throughout the world, becoming a pandemic in less than three months.
Till now the fast-spreading coronavirus has claimed more than 352,000 lives and infected more than 5,710,000 people globally, according to Worldometer.
As many as 2,451,000 people have recovered from Covid-19, which has spread to 213 countries and territories across the world.
