Covid-19 : Daily death toll falls, new cases rise

UNB, Dhaka :
Bangladesh saw a fall in Covid-19-related deaths and a rise in new cases in the last 24 hours till Wednesday morning.
Five Coronavirus-related deaths and 428 new cases were reported during the period while 18 deaths and 399 fresh cases confirmed on Tuesday.
The daily infection rate now stands at 2.65 %, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
With the latest figures, the Covid-19 fatalities climbed to 8,379 and total infections to 544,544.
According to the DGHS, the overall infection rate slightly fell to 13.66%, which was 13.70 % percent on Tuesday.
The mortality rate remained steady at 1.54% for the past few days, the DGHS handout said.
So far, 493,798 patients (90.68%) including 911 in past 24 hours have recovered from Covid-19.
The authorities have so far tested 3,987,676 samples, including 16,152, in the past 24 hours.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18.
Covid-19 vaccination drive started across the country on February 7.
Bangladesh signed an agreement with the Serum Institute of India Pvt Ltd, the world’s largest vaccine maker, for 30 million doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
Serum will send five million doses each month between January and June.
Five million doses arrived in January and India gifted another two million doses as gift.
The government brought down the age to 40 for registration to get jabs. The doses are being provided for free.
Some 2,491,053 people have received the first shot until Tuesday. The second dose has to be taken within 8 to 12 weeks of the first shot.
Covid-19 continues to rage across the world, as the global death toll from the deadly virus fast crossed the grim milestone of 112 million, according to US-based Johns Hopkins University.
To be specific, the death toll from the virus reached 2,486,267 while the total caseload mounted to 112,149,127 on Wednesday morning, according to the university data.
Brazil has so far registered 248,529 Covid deaths and 10,257,875 cases, according to the university data.
Brazil has the second highest number of deaths, after the United States, and the third highest number of cases, behind the United States and India.
Besides, India has so far registered 11,030,176 cases and 156,567 fatalities, according to the country’s Health Ministry.Meanwhile, the country has recorded five novel coronavirus (Covid-19) deaths and 428 fresh cases overnight.
The recovery count rose to 4,93,798 after another 911 patients were discharged from the hospitals during the period, a press release of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said on Wednesday. “Five more Covid-19 patients died in the last 24 hours, increasing the death toll from the pandemic to 8,379,” the press release added. It said the tally of infections has surged to 5,44,544 as 428 new cases were confirmed in the last 24 hours.
A total of 16,152 samples were tested at 214 authorized laboratories across the country during the time.
Of the total sample tests in the past 24 hours, 2.65 percent tested positive, while 13.66 percent cases were detected from the total tests conducted so far, the release added.
Among the total infections, 90.68 percent patients have recovered, while 1.54 percent died so far since the first Covid-19 positive cases were reported in the country on March 8.