Bangladesh continued to record a dramatic rise in the number of daily recovery of COVID-19 patients for the second consecutive day. A number of 147 new patients recorded to have recovered in the 24 hours until Monday. With the latest figure, the total recovery rose to 1,209, which was only 177 just on Saturday. The Directorate General of Health Services raised its tally of recovered patients by 886 in the gap of 24 hours until Sunday. It developed a new criterion for determining recovery of the COVID-19 patients, however, not explained to the public. The sudden rise in the number of recoveries coincided with the growing criticism of Bangladesh’s slow recovery rate compared to other Asian countries and the global trend. While globally the COVID-19 recoveries remained far greater than deaths caused by the disease, in Bangladesh the situation is completely the opposite. Until Saturday, roughly 2 per cent of COVID-19 patients recovered in Bangladesh with almost a similar death rate from the disease.
The recovery percentages in countries such as India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal ranged from 21.33 per cent to 27.74 per cent until Monday. The death rates in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar and Nepal were 3.26 per cent, 2.28 per cent, 0.97 per cent, 3.87 per cent and 0 per cent respectively. With the sudden rise in the recovery rate of COVID-19 patients in Bangladesh, which jumped from 2 per cent to more than 12 per cent in just two days, the country finally appeared to be fitting in the global pattern. The steep rise in recovery also coincided with the government’s decision to relax shutdown by opening garment factories and allowing other economic activities. Public health experts said the new government protocol identifies asymptomatic patients as not sick as they have no symptoms but they are not coronavirus-free.
Under the new protocol, the government would send such asymptomatic coronavirus patients back home with the instruction to self-isolate until he or she was tested negative for coronavirus twice in a row. It will certainly increase the risk of coronavirus infection among many.
