UNB, Dhaka :
Reeling from the devastating second of the Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh on Monday saw 231 deaths related to the virus, the highest number since the pandemic hit the country, amid an eight-day pause in the nationwide strict lockdown.
The situation is likely to get even worse because of the fallout from the lockdown pause ahead of Eid holidays.
With Covid’s Delta variant spreading fast, Bangladesh already tallied more than 1.1 million infections and 18,000-plus deaths from the pandemic. The country’s fatalities have been hovering at approximately 200 for the last two weeks.
Also, Covid-19 infections in Bangladesh have reached 99% of the peak, with more than 11,828 new cases reported each day. The highest daily average was reported on July 15.
The country recorded 13,321 infections in 24 hours till Monday morning after testing 45,012 samples.
Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 230 on July 11 and 13,768 infections the next day.
The country is in the grip of a second wave of the coronavirus that is threatening to overwhelm its health service.
There have been 1,117,310 infections and 18,125 coronavirus-related deaths in Bangladesh since the pandemic began, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate rose to 29.59% when the World Health Organization recommends a 5% or below rate.
However, the death rate remained unchanged at 1.62%, and the recovery rate dropped to 84.25%.
Dhaka division reported the highest 73 deaths, Khulna 57, Chattogram 43, Rangpur 17, Rajshahi 16, Mymensingh 11, Sylhet eight and Barishal six.
Hospitals are now overwhelmed with patients and struggling to cope as the country is experiencing a devastating second wave of Covid infections, driven by the Delta variant.
So far, Bangladesh has administered at least 10,908,272 doses of Covid vaccines – enough to have vaccinated around 3.1% of the country’s population, assuming every person needs two doses.
