Bangladesh Covid-19 cases cross 1.5 lakh mark
Some 4,334 patients recovered during the time, which was the highest single-day recoveries
Bangladesh's Covid-19 count crossed the grim milestone of 1.5 lakh mark yesterday with 4,019 fresh cases, taking the country's total caseload to 1,53,277.
While it took 103 days to hit the one lakh mark, the next 50 thousand cases were exceeded in only 14 days.
The number of fatalities from Covid-19 infection has reached 1,926 now with 38 more patients succumbing to the virus in the 24-hour period of Wednesday 8 am to Thursday 8 am.
Some 4,334 patients recovered during the time, which was the highest single-day recovery.
On the other hand, a report of Bangladesh Peace Observatory or BPO, a research project under the Dhaka University's Centre for Genocide Studies, claimed that 1,500 people have died with Covid-19 like symptoms between March 8 and June 27.
The BPO prepared its findings based on the reports published in 25 news outlets, including national and regional newspapers, online portals and television channels, says the report.
According to data from the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research, persons in the 21-30 and 31-40 age groups are highly prone to the coronavirus infection, constituting 55% of the total confirmed cases.
When it comes to deaths from the disease, those above the age of 60 are the most vulnerable. Persons of this age-group make 39% of the dead, although they make up just 7% of Covid-19 patients.
Furthermore, the males are at the top of the chart in terms of both infection and death rates – 71% and 77% respectively.
Meanwhile, during a virtual briefing yesterday, Professor Dr Nasima Sultana, additional director general of the health directorate, said 8,02,697 Covid-19 tests, including 18,362 in the 24 hours have been conducted till now since the pandemic made inroads into the country in March.
Mentioning the growth of testing facilities in the country, Dr Nasima disclosed data on month-wise tests that they performed since March this year.
Of the total number of tests conducted till date – 3,065 were done in March, 62,826 in April, 2,43,039 in May, 4,57,350 in June and 36,237 were done within the first two days of July 2020.
"The patients who are cured of the disease staying in hospitals, homes and isolation centres and those getting well without taking medicine are included in the list of recovered cases," said Dr Nasima Sultana.
However, the number of recoveries was rather low until June 15. On that day, the single-day recovery saw a jump as the number was estimated under the new guidelines that included the patients who recovered at home.
Dr Nasima said around 43.35% of Covid-19 patients – both symptomatic and asymptomatic – have recovered in Bangladesh so far, while 1.27% have died.
The latest day's infection rate was 21.89% of the total tests, though the overall rate in the country till date was 19.10%.
Currently, 63,608 people are quarantined across the country – including 2,894 newly-quarantined individuals. A total of 3,05,581 people have completed their quarantine periods.
Nasima Sultana said, "The authorities placed 960 new individuals suspected of having Covid-19 into isolation, bringing the total to 15,757. Meanwhile,12,775 persons left isolation."
The virus has killed 5,20,173 people globally and infected 1,08,60,971 so far till 9:30pm Thursday, according to information on worldometers.info.