Dhaka, the overpopulated capital of Bangladesh, has been hit the hardest during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the city recording more than half of the confirmed cases in the country, government data shows.
Until Friday, the city reported 8,593 cases or 57.89% of the total cases, according to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), reports UNB.
Districts and areas under Dhaka division, except the capital city, have 3,157 confirmed cases.
The total number of Covid-19 patients in Bangladesh shot past 20,000 on Friday. Dhaka division, except the capital city, had 21.27% of the cases.
Besides, Chittagong division recorded 1,333 cases, the second-highest number among the divisions.
Apart from these, Sylhet has 1.48% cases while Rangpur 2.57%, Khulna 1.85%, Mymensingh 3.5%, Barisal 1.06% and Rajshahi reported 1.4% of the total cases.
Bangladesh witnessed a surge in coronavirus cases on Friday as 1,202 more people tested positive in the span of 24 hours. During the period, 15 people also died of Covid-19, taking the death toll to 298.
Coronavirus, first reported in China in December last year, has spread to 213 countries and territories and infected more than 4.6 million people around the world. The confirmed number of deaths was over 308,600 until 10:30am on Saturday, according to worldometer.
How coronavirus crisis unfolded in Bangladesh
Bangladesh reported its first three Covid-19 cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18. The number of cases started going up by mid-April, data from government agencies showed.
The government shut down educational institutions and all non-essential services as it declared a general holiday from March 26 to curb the transmission of novel coronavirus. But people hardly paid any attention to the government’s request to stay indoors.
As the situation worsened, the health authorities on April 16 declared the whole country vulnerable to infection and imposed heavy restriction on movement.
The government then took sweeping steps to contain the virus and announced a series of stimulus packages to tackle the economic fallout.
Recently, the government lifted restrictions on opening shops ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr, but many shopping mall and market owners decided to stay shut until the religious festival scheduled to be celebrated by the end of May.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said her administration was working to gradually reopen some sectors, including the labour-intensive apparel sector, but health experts and economists have urged the government keep them shut throughout May.
As the number of confirmed cases jumped, the government extended the general holidays in phases to May 30.
In an address to the nation on March 25, the prime minister said the fight against coronavirus was a war. “In this war, your responsibility is to stay home. Inshallah, we’ll win the war with everyone’s efforts.”
