2 Covid deaths, 218 new cases recorded in 24hrs

Bangladesh health authorities recorded two more deaths from coronavirus and 218 new cases of the virus in the last 24 hours till Friday morning, according to the health department.

The daily case positivity rate slightly increased to 4.75 percent from Thursday 4.45 percent during the period after testing 4,585 samples at 880 government authorised laboratories in the country.

The fatality rate remained static at 1.46 percent while recovery rate stood at 97.11 percent from Thursday’s 97.10 percent.

Meanwhile, some 350 people recovered from the virus, taking the total number of recovery to 19,50,387 as of Friday.

With the latest data, the death toll of the virus rose to 29,312 and caseload to 20,08,500, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) in a handout this afternoon.

Among the victims, one was male and another one was female and they were aged between 61 and 80 years. They breathed his last while undergoing treatment at a government hospital in Chattogram and Rajshahi division.

The health authorities also found 137 positive cases in Dhaka, four in Mymensingh and 33 in Chattogram, 16 in Rajshahi, nine in Khulna 13 in Barishal and six in Sylhet divisions during the period.

In May, the country reported only four Covid-linked deaths and 816 new cases, while 7,356 patients recovered from the disease.

The country reported its first zero Covid-related death in a single day on November 20 last year, along with 178 infections.

On January 28, Bangladesh registered its previous highest daily positivity rate at 33.37 percent reporting 15,440 cases and 20 deaths.

The country registered the highest daily caseload of 16,230 on July 28 last year, while the highest number of daily fatalities was 264 on August 10 last year.

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

Worldometer, a reference website that provides counters and real-time statistics for diverse topics, has recorded 64, 49, 206 deaths so far caused by the virus and, 59, 34, 91, 397 cases worldwide.