Bangladesh’s daily infection rate fell slightly to 10.04 percent on Friday morning from 10.45 percent a day earlier.
The health authorities registered 18 more coronavirus-related deaths and 1,899 new cases in the last 24 hours until morning.
The latest figures have pushed the number of total Covid-19 fatalities to 8,642 and the total number of infected patients rose to 566,838, according to a handout by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, the mortality rate stood at 1.52 percent today after remaining static at 1.53 percent for the past week.
Covid-19 infection rate had come down to below 5 percent on January 19 last. It eventually fell below 3 percent but soared again on February 9.
So far, 519,141 patients (91.59 percent) have recovered, including 1,618 in the last 24 hours, according to DGHS.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8, 2020 and the first death on March 18 the same year.
Authorities have so far tested 4,368,111 samples, including 18,987 in the past 24 hours.
Precautionary steps strengthened
The government has taken a tougher stance to fight Covid-19 transmission.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque on February 15 said that the Health Ministry has sent letters to districts, directing the officials concerned to impose fines on people flouting Covid protocols.
He said the government was concerned as the infection and death rates spiked suddenly.
Educational institutions, originally scheduled to reopen on March 30, will remain shut for longer period if the infection keeps surging at the present rate, Maleque said.
Vaccination drive in Bangladesh
Bangladesh launched its nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7.
By Thursday, 4,687,824 people received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The second dose has to be taken between 8 and 12 weeks of the first one.
The government is providing the vaccine for free. It signed an agreement with India’s Serum Institute for acquiring 30 million doses.
Serum will provide five million doses every month between January and June. Those who are 40 or above can register for getting the jab at www.surokkha.gov.bd.
Health Minister Maleque said the age limit for getting the vaccine will be revised when more doses will be available in the country.
Global Covid-19 situation
The global Covid caseload rose to 121,848,070 and fatalities 2,692,244 on Friday, according to Johns Hopkins University tally.
The US has logged 29,667,305 cases and 539,698 fatalities as of early Friday, according to JHU data.
Deaths per day in the US have plunged to an average of just under 1,300, down from a high of about 3,400 two months ago. New cases are running at about 55,000 per day on an average after peaking at more than a quarter-million daily in early January, reports AP.
Brazil has registered 11,780,820 Covid-19 cases and 287,499 deaths till Friday.
The South American country has the world’s second-highest Covid-19 death toll and caseload, only next to the US. Brazil is one of the countries hardest-hit by the pandemic, experiencing another wave of infections.
According to official data, the death toll in India mounted to 159,370 while the total caseload stood at 11,514,331 on Friday morning.
