COVID-19 pandemicBD reports 45 more deaths, 5,042 new cases

Coronavirus fatalities in Bangladesh rose to 8994 on Tuesday after health authorities recorded 45 more deaths in the last 24 hours until Tuesday morning.

Besides, 5,042 more people were diagnosed with coronavirus, pushing up the total caseload to 6,05,937, said a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

The cases were reported after testing 26,620 samples, the handout said.

It said the infection rate jumped to 18.94 percent on Tuesday from 18.38 percent on Monday. However, the mortality rate slipped slightly to 1.48 percent.

During the 24-hour period, 2,162 coronavirus patients recovered, taking the total number of recovered patients to 54,0180.

Among the latest day's victims, 28 were men and 17 were women.

37 of them hailed from Dhaka, three each from Chattogram, two each from Rajshahi, Khulna and one from Sylhet division.

As of now, 5,118 people died in Dhaka division, 1,631 in Chattogram, 501 in Rajshahi, 579 in Khulna, 273 in Barishal, 318 in Sylhet, 373 in Rangpur and 201 in Mymensingh.

Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8, 2020 and the first death on March 18 the same year.

In the wake of the fresh surge in the Covid-19 infections, the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Monday issued an 18-point directive for the next two weeks in an effort to contain the spread of the coronavirus in Bangladesh.

The Health Ministry has also proposed partial lockdowns for some places with higher Coronavirus transmission rates, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said Monday.

Partial lockdown, closure of amusement centres, picnic spots, religious gatherings, limiting wedding ceremonies, strengthening quarantine system, limiting passengers in public transports, and limiting attendance in offices are some of the recommendations.

The ministry also proposed ensuring a ‘no mask no service’ policy, increasing numbers of mobile courts and imposing fines on health guideline violators.

Bangladesh on Monday recorded its highest-ever single day infection (5,181) since the first cases were reported on March 8 last year.

As the world is facing unprecedented challenges with the Covid-19 pandemic, the global death toll from the virus is approaching 2.8 million.

The total death toll from the virus reached 2,791,072 while the total case count stood at 127,581,652 as of Tuesday morning, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).