Although daily Covid-19 fatalities have been showing a downward trend for the past few days, the high infection rate of over 30% indicates that the pandemic is far from slowing down in Bangladesh.
The health authorities reported 166 fatalities and 6,364 new cases on Friday, with Dhaka being the worst affected among the eight divisions.
As of now, the total number of deaths has reached 18,851 while the caseload stands at 1,146,564, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Dhaka division reported 60 deaths, followed by Khulna and Chittagong with 33 fatalities each.
Rangpur division had 12 deaths while Barisal counted 10, Sylhet eight, Rajshahi seven, and Mymensingh three.
In terms of infections per division, Dhaka logged the highest 3,698 cases followed by Chittagong with 1,189.
As many as 20,493 samples were tested across the country, with a positivity rate of 31.05%.
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“The strict restrictions in the first two weeks of July before the Eid holidays did not have much effect. However, the infection decreased in the border districts,” DGHS chief ABM Khurshid Alam told the media at Dhaka’s Mugda General Hospital on Friday.
He said the outcome of another round of strict lockdown that started on Friday would be visible in a few days.
On Thursday, the health authorities reported 187 deaths and 3,697 cases with a staggering infection rate of 32.19%.
On Wednesday, a total of 173 deaths and 7,614 new cases were reported while the infection rate stood at 30.48%.
On Tuesday, Bangladesh registered 200 more fatalities and 11,579 fresh infections. The positivity rate was 29.31%.
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Virologist Dr Nazrul Islam, a member of the National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19, told Dhaka Tribune that the drop in number of Covid deaths is random.
“We can say the number of deaths is going down if it continues for a few weeks. Past two or three day’s drop does not really show a long-term downward trend,” he said.
The test positivity rate showed the real picture and it did not go down in the past three days, he added.
Meanwhile, another 9,006 patients recovered from the infectious disease across the country, taking the total number of recovery to 978,616.
The mortality rate against the total number of cases detected so far stands at 1.64%.
All adults to be vaccinated
The government has decided to lower the age of coronavirus vaccination to 18 years, according to the chief of the Directorate General of Health Service.
The health minister has already given the instruction in a bid to bolster the ongoing vaccination drive, ABM Khurshid Alam said on Friday.
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“The matter is under discussion and an announcement will be made soon,” he said.
Regarding vaccination in rural areas, Khurshid said the government was considering whether shots could be administered in the same way as other government vaccines and how the process could be made easier.
