A day before the Eid-ul-Fitr, Bangladesh reached the grim milestone of record deaths from the novel coronavirus in 24 hours.
As many as 28 new deaths were reported until Sunday morning, the highest daily count, taking the toll to 480 in the country after the first fatality was reported on March 18.
The death toll accounts for 1.43% of the total infected.
Another 1,532 people tested positive for Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, pushing up the total number of confirmed cases to 33,610.
Additional Director General (Administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), Prof Nasima Sultana, revealed the latest figures from Dhaka on Sunday afternoon, in a daily online bulletin on the Covid-19 situation.
She, however, did not provide any detailed information about the deceased in the briefing.
Bangladesh recorded the highest Covid-19 deaths (24) in a single day on May 22. Deaths from coronavirus infection crossed the 400 mark in the country on May 21.
The country recorded its first fatality on March 18 and crossed its 100 mark on April 20.
Prof Nasima, also the DGHS acting director general (DG), said as many as 9,184 samples were collected in the past 24 hours. Of those, 8,908 were tested in 47 labs across the country.
A total of 243,583 tests have been conducted so far, she said.
On May 23, Bangladesh recorded 1,873 Covid-19 cases -- highest in a 24-hour span, since the first cases were reported back in March.
Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh | |
Total deaths | 480 |
Total cases | 33,610 |
Total recoveries | 6,901 |
Total tests | 243,583 |
New deaths | 28 |
New cases | 1,532 |
New recoveries | 415 |
New tests | 8,908 |
Source: DGHS
415 more recover
In the briefing, the DGHS acting DG also said that 415 more Covid-19 patients recovered from the infection in the last 24 hours.
So far 6,901 people (20.53% of the total infected) have made full recovery after being infected by the novel coronavirus.
Nasima said: "Total 253 people were put into institutional isolation in the last 24 hours. As many as 4,446 individuals are now in isolation, while 2,163 others have been released so far.
"Some 3,063 people have been put in the home and institutional quarantine over the past 24 hours. Till now, 263,479 people have been quarantined across the country, of which 208,346 have been released."
Nasima also told the press that so far, 2,454,737 personal protective equipment (PPE) have been collected and at least 2,064,934 have been distributed across the country.
"We have 389,803 PPE in stock now."
'Maintain social distancing during Eid celebration'
At the beginning of the briefing, the DGHS official urged all to maintain social distancing while celebrating Eid-ul-Fitr on Monday.
She requested all to abide by the health and hygiene regulations.
"While attending Eid congregations, stay at least 3 feet away from each other, and refrain from embracing."
She also urged all to take special care of children to avoid any possible risk of being infected during Eid celebrations.
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.
The fast-spreading coronavirus has claimed 344,257 lives and infected 5,420,637 people across the world till 3:10pm on Sunday, according to Worldometer.
As many as 2,255,061 people have recovered from Covid-19 which has spread to 213 countries and territories across the planet.
