The death toll from Covid-19 in Bangladesh climbed to 2,238 on Thursday with 41 more people succumbing to the disease in the past 24 hours.
Furthermore, 3,360 fresh cases of Covid-19 were confirmed from Wednesday to Thursday, taking the total number of confirmed cases in the country to 175,494.
Additional Director General (Administration) of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Prof Nasima Sultana revealed the latest figures from in the daily online bulletin on the Covid-19 situation on Thursday afternoon.
She also said that 3,706 people recovered from the disease in the last 24 hours.
So far, a total of 84,544 patients — 48.17% of all infected — have made full recoveries across the country.
Fatality rate 1.28%
Prof Nasima said of the 41 deceased – 29 men and 12 women – 12 were from Dhaka division, 14 from Chittagong, six from Khulna, three from Rangpur, two each from Rajshahi, Sylhet and Mymensingh.
Among the victims, 38 died at different hospitals and three at home, she added.
So far, 1,770 men (79.09%) and 468 women (20.91%) have died from the deadly virus across the country, she said.
She added that the mortality rate at the moment is 1.28% of the total cases so far detected.
As per government data, individuals who are 60 years old and above are the most vulnerable to Covid-19, as 44.19% of people in the age group had died until Thursday. A further 29.04% deceased were aged 51-60, 14.61% were 41-50, 7.10% died were 31-40, 3.26% were 21 to 30, 1.16% were 11-20 and 0.63% were under the age of 10.
21.49% test positive in 24hrs
Prof Nasima said as many as 15,862 samples were collected from suspected Covid-19 patients in the last 24 hours.
As many as 15,632 samples were tested at 76 authorized labs across the country.
To date, 83 labs have received the permission to conduct Covid-19 tests – 34 state-run hospitals, 11 research institutes and universities, 21 private hospitals and 17 private diagnostic centres.
However, only 76 of them are conducting tests now. Two private hospitals – Care Medical College and Hospital and Shahbuddin Medical College and Hospital – and five private diagnostic centres – Thyrocare Bangladesh Ltd, Alok Healthcare Ltd, Stem Healthcare BD Ltd, Authentic Diagnostic and Consultation Ltd, and Epic Healthcare Ltd – are not conducting tests now.
Division | Death rate |
Dhaka | 50.40% |
Chittagong | 26.14% |
Rajshahi | 5.01% |
Khulna | 5.01% |
Sylhet | 4.33% |
Barisal | 3.62% |
Rangpur | 3.08% |
Mymensingh | 2.41% |
Care Medical College and Hospital said they do not have the machines yet but will soon start as they have it, while Stem Healthcare Ltd said they will only test Qatar Visa applicants but still have not received the permission from Qatar government. The other five labs did not respond to DGHS’s inquiry yet.
With 3,360 of the tests coming back positive, the detection rate of new patients in the last 24 hours stood at 21.49%, she said.
Till date, 904,784 tests have been conducted in the country, leading to an overall infection rate of 19.40%, so far.
Situation at dedicated Covid-19 hospitals
In the Dhaka metropolitan area, there are 6,305 general beds in dedicated Covid-19 hospitals and 4,782 of those are vacant. There are also 142 beds in intensive care units (ICUs) and 86 of them are occupied.
Other hospitals across the country have 14,945 general and 394 ICU beds in total; and 3,596 and 191 of them are occupied, respectively, said Prof Nasima.
Between Wednesday and Thursday mornings, 418 patients were admitted to hospitals and 536 were released.
“Besides, a total of 11,763 oxygen cylinders are currently in use across Bangladesh,” she said.
Everyone can call the numbers 01313791130 and 01313791138-40 for information regarding hospitals, she further said.
Prof Nasima also said that 879 people were taken into isolation since Wednesday, taking the current total of isolated patients across the country to 17,067.
Meanwhile, 2,282 people were quarantined at the time same, taking the current total of quarantined people to 63,106.
Looking back
On March 8, health authorities in Bangladesh reported the first three cases of Covid-19, a severe acute respiratory illness caused by the new coronavirus strain Sars-CoV-2. The country recorded its first fatality on March 18.
On June 10, Covid-19 deaths in Bangladesh crossed the 1,000 mark, and on June 18, the number of total cases crossed the 100,000 mark.
On June 30, the country recorded 64 deaths, which is the highest in a 24-hour span till now.
On July 2, a total of 4,019 positive cases were recorded, which was the highest in a single day till now.
The novel coronavirus had broken out in China's Wuhan city in late December last year and quickly spread throughout the world, becoming a pandemic in less than three months.
