Bangladesh registered 218 more deaths from Covid-19 in the 24 hours to 8am on Saturday. The total number of fatalities in the country now stands at 20,685.
During the same period, 9,369 people tested positive for the deadly virus, taking the total number of infections to 1,249,484.
With this Bangladesh marked the end of its deadliest month yet in the fight against the coronavirus pandemic that broke out in the country in March last year.
However, as per the current trend and projections made by experts, the pandemic situation will anything but improve in the coming months despite the ongoing strict lockdown.
According to DGHS data, it took Bangladesh eight and a half months (from March to mid-November 2020) to register 6,000 deaths.
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But in July alone, Bangladesh reported a record 6,182 fatalities, proving it to be the deadliest 31 days in the country’s pandemic history.
Fatalities have crossed the grim 200 mark every day since July 25.
To make matters worse, as many as 336,226 Covid cases were recorded during the same period.
To put things into perspective, Bangladesh confirmed its first 350,000 cases in September 2020, over six months into the Covid-19 pandemic.
Experts have warned that daily deaths and cases are to rise due to the highly contagious Delta variant.
Most of those who left Dhaka before Eid-ul-Azha are now rushing back to the capital, defying health safety rules, as export-oriented factories will reopen on Sunday.
The health authorities fear that this will work as a catalyst for the Covid-19 pandemic.
The deadliest Covid month
According to government-provided Covid data, on average, 695.25 people have died from the deadly virus every month from March 2020 to March this year.
However, in the past four months, from April 1 till July 31, the moving average of monthly deaths stood at a whopping 2,855.25.
The highest 257 Covid deaths were reported on July 27.
On average, at least 200 people have died from the virus every day during the month of July.
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The daily infection rate also surged to and past the 30% mark in the same month.
Noted virologist Prof Nazrul Islam, a member of the National Technical Advisory Committee (NTAC) on Covid-19, said that the crisis was likely deepen if people kept flouting health safety guidelines and the authorities failed to provide hospital beds for critical patients.
“Along with the UK and South African Covid variants, the Indian Delta variant has now become dominant in the country. But the people are acting carelessly despite this being such a crucial phase of the pandemic,” he said.
National Covid-19 Public Health Advisor at DGHS Dr Tarek Hussain echoed Prof Nazrul Islam.
He said: “Public movement during Eid and the open cattle markets are hugely responsible for the increased number of deaths in July.”
Daily positivity rate 30.24%
Dhaka, in the past 24 hours to Saturday morning, counted 67 deaths, the highest among the eight divisions, followed by Chittagong with 55 fatalities and Khulna with 27.
Sylhet division reported nine deaths while Rajshahi counted 22, Barisal 10, Rangpur 16, and Mymensingh 12.
During the same period, 9,369 people tested positive for the virus, taking the total number of infections to 1,249,484 in the country, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
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Dhaka logged 4,272 cases, the highest among the divisions, followed by Chittagong with 2,827 and Khulna 571.
As many as 30,976 samples were tested across the country, with a positivity rate of 30.24%.
On the other hand, another 14,017 patients recovered from the infectious disease across the country, taking the total number of recoveries to 1,064,195.
The mortality rate against the total number of cases detected so far stands at 1.66%.
