Covid infection rate, deaths surged up

Coronavirus cases in the country have witnessed a significant jump with 1,773 new cases recorded over the span of 24 hours. 

Not only the case number but also deaths from dreaded Covid-19 jumped to 26 in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours and the infection rate surged up to 9.48 percent, which records high in the last 81 days. The alarmingly rising trend was revealed by the latest figures published by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS), via a press release, on Monday.

Meanwhile, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has ordered all the hospitals across the country to prepare for a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections as the pandemic situation has again taken a grave turn in recent days. The civil surgeons and the directors of medical college hospitals have been asked to keep ready the intensive care units and the general beds dedicated to COVID-19 patients under their jurisdiction to deal with a possible second wave of infections.

The infection rate had been below 5 percent for about two months. However, new patient detection and the infection rate have been going up since last week.

With the new development, the total number of confirmed cases jumped to 559,168 and the death toll rose to 8,571.

The last time the daily Covid-19 case log crossed the 1700-mark was on December 15, 2020 (1,877). Similarly, the last time the number of daily deaths went higher than 26 was on January 7 (31).

The month of March has been witnessing an upward trend of rising cases day by day. On March 1, 585 new (above 500) Covid-19 cases were recorded, after almost a month of a lower rate of infections.

According to the press release, the infection or test positivity rate from the last 24 hours also increased to 9.5 pc and the overall rate to date stood at 13.05 pc. The mortality rate, however, remains a static 1.53 pc.

Of the deceased over the last 24 hours, 21 were men and 5 were women. Two were above the age of 40, five above 50, and 19 above the age of 60. Twenty-three were from Dhaka Division, and one each from Chittagong, Rajshahi, and Barisal divisions.

Of the total deceased since March 18 last year, 6,484 were men and 2,087 were women.

Meanwhile, 18,695 samples, including the pending ones, were tested in 219 labs across the country in the past 24 hours. Till now, 4,283,246 tests were conducted in Bangladesh.

Another 1,432 patients recovered from Covid-19 at the same time, raising the total to 513,127 with a 91.77 pc recovery rate.

The country's first three cases were reported on March 8 last year and the first death from the novel coronavirus on March 18.

Meanwhile, more than 5.7 million people registered around the country to get the first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine till Monday afternoon, said the health directorate.

Until Sunday, over 4,398,094 million people have been vaccinated nationwide since January 27.

The novel coronavirus broke out in China's Wuhan city in late December 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world, becoming a pandemic in less than three months.

The novel coronavirus broke out in China's Wuhan city in late December 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world, becoming a pandemic in less than three months.

The fast-spreading coronavirus has claimed more than 2,666,564 lives and infected as many as 120,486,601 people across the world till Monday afternoon, according to worldometer.

As many as 97,031,124 people have recovered from Covid-19, which has affected 219 countries and territories across the planet.