Covid-19: Daily positivity rate declines to 2.16%, 7 more die

Bangladesh witnessed a downward trend in death and infection of coronavirus as the health authorities registered seven deaths and 466 new cases of the virus in the last 24 hours till Thursday morning.

The daily positivity rate of the virus stood at 2.16 percent down from Wednesday’s 2.34 percent, Tuesday’s 2.35 percent and Monday’s 2.58 percent. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.77 percent.

With the fresh numbers, the Covid-19 fatalities reached 27,737 in Bangladesh while the caseload mounted to 15,64,485, the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a handout this afternoon.

The fresh cases were detected after testing 21,568 samples at 829 government authorised laboratories in the country in the 24 hours.

Some 695 people were declared free the infection at the same time taking the total number of the recovery to 15,26, 368 and with this the recovery rate stood at 97.56 percent.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), if the daily-case positivity rate remains at 5 per cent or below for 14 days it is considered to be safe for mass unlocking.

The country last witnessed the upswing in fatalities reaching its peak on August 5 and 10 when 264 deaths were recorded.

Between May and June this year, there was a 273 percent rise in monthly caseloads and 162 percent in fatalities.

Among the new victims, three people died in Dhaka, two in Chattograme, one each in Khulna and Rajshahi while no case of casualty was reported in Barishal, Sylhet Rangpur and Mymensingh divisions during the period.

Of the victims, three were male and four were female and the deceased were aged between 41 and 80 years, according to the DGHS daily chart.

Among them, five breathed their last while undergoing treatment at different public hospitals and one two at private hospitals in the 24 hours.

Meanwhile, Worldometer, a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics, has recorded 48, 91, 699 deaths so far caused by the virus and 24, 00, 46, 889 cases worldwide.

Since the outbreak of the virus in China in 2019, the health authority in Bangladesh confirmed the first case on March 8, 2020 and recorded the first death on March 18 in the same year.