DGHS
187 more die in Bangladesh as Covid havoc continues
As Bangladesh continues to struggle with the deadly 2nd wave of Covid-19 as the vaccination rate lags, the country lost 187 more lives in 24 hours till Friday morning.
The virus also infected 12,148 others during the period.
The new figures took the death tally to 17,465 and caseload to 10,83,922, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
READ: Covid-19: Government orders 66 crore vaccine doses worth RS 14,505 crore
The fresh cases were detected after testing 41,947 samples during the period, which took the positivity rate to 28.96 % from Thursday’s 27.23 %.
However, the fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.61% during the period.
The country saw a record number of 13,768 Covid cases on Monday and the highest-ever 230 deaths on Sunday.
READ: COVID-19:Expired liquid tubes used for collecting samples at Pabna UHC
Just like the last few days, Dhaka reported the highest deaths as 68 more people died with the fatal disease during this time, followed by 39 deaths in Khulna, 36 in Chattogram, 14 in Rajshahi, nine in Sylhet, eight in Barishal, seven in Mymensingh, and six in Rangpur.
Of them, 113 were men, and 74 were women.
READ: UN survey indicates progress in streamlining trade procedures despite COVID-19 crisis
Besides, two were within 11-20 years old, seven between 21-30, 11 between 31-40, 30 between 41-50, 36 between 51-60, 54 between 61-70, 30 within 71-80, 12 were between 81-90, four between 91-100, and one above 100 years old.
Vaccine institute in Bangladesh can be a gamechanger for its economy: Experts
As the government has planned to establish a vaccine institute, experts have appreciated it as a timely and bold move as they think Bangladesh has huge potential to grab the international vaccine market like medicines.
They also said the local and international vaccine markets will continue to grow as vaccine safety is now becoming as important as food security with the emergence of various diseases, flues and viruses like Covid.
The analysts think an international standard vaccine institute will not only be a gamechanger for the country’s economy but also for its image and reputation building globally.
Also read: International vaccine institute to be set up in Bangladesh: Hasina
They said the government should focus on developing skilled human resources alongside setting up the institutes to run it effectively and produce quality vaccines as Bangladesh’s many public institutions fall apart only because of poor management and lack of efficient manpower.
Covid claims 203 more lives in Bangladesh, another 12,198 infected
Struggling with Covid-19’s grim second wave, Bangladesh lost 203 more lives to the deadly virus, while another 12,198 people contracted it in24 hours till Tuesday morning.
The new numbers took the country’s death tally to 16,842 and the caseload to 10,47,155, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh cases were detected after testing 41,755 samples during the period, pushing up the case positivity rate to 29.21%.
According to the DGHS, 2,339 people lost the battle to Covid-19 and 125,596 more got infected as of July13.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.61% during the 24-hour period.
The country saw a record number of 13,768 Covid cases on Monday and the highest-ever 230 deaths on Sunday.
Also read: Bangladesh eases lockdown restrictions ahead of Eid
So far, 889,167 people have recovered from the disease, taking the country’s recovery rate to 84.91%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of the latest deaths, 61 were reported in Dhaka, 53 in Khulna, and 30 in Chattogram divisions and 27 in Rajshahi. Besides, 15 people died in Rangpur, seven in Mymensingh and five each in Barishal and Sylhet divisions.
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June, making those the most fatal months of this year. Also, July was the most fatal month in 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
Lockdown eased
The government has decided to ease all lockdown restrictions in the country for eight days ahead of Eid ul Azha.
In a notification on Tuesday morning, the cabinet division said that the lockdown restrictions will be lifted from July 14 midnight to the morning of July 23.
However, strict restrictions will resume from July 23 and will continue till August 5, as per the order.
Also read: FM reassures on adequate vaccine supply from multiple sources
Earlier on Monday, it was reported that Bangladesh Railway is going to restore its passenger train services for eight days from July 15-22 across the country, keeping 50% of the seats empty apparently to facilitate the movement of people during the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha.
Public transport services and business institutions will also be allowed to function.
Eid-ul-Azha will be celebrated on July 21 amid the Delta variant of Covid-19 wreaking havoc across the country, shattering records every day.
A record rise in the number of Covid cases and fatalities in recent days prompted the government to enforce a nationwide stringent lockdown suspending all outdoor activities unless there is an emergency.
48 dengue cases reported in 24 hrs: DGHS
Amid a rise in the number of dengue patients, authorities reported 48 more new cases in 24 hours until Tuesday morning.
Some 236 patients diagnosed with dengue are receiving treatment at different government and private hospitals in the country as of Tuesday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Of them, one patient is receiving treatment at a hospital outside Dhaka.
Also read: LGRD minister calls for public awareness to prevent dengue
Some 844 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue since January and 608 of them have been released after recovery.
The recent spike in dengue cases has added to the worries as the country continues to grapple with the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
The DGHS reported 1,193 dengue cases and three confirmed dengue-related deaths in 2020.
Also read: Risk of dengue outbreak rises amid lockdown
According to official figures, 101,354 dengue cases and 179 deaths were recorded in Bangladesh in 2019.
Dengue fever was first reported in Bangladesh in 2000 when it claimed 93 lives. In the following three years, the fatalities almost fell to zero.
However, the mosquito-borne viral infection struck again in 2018, killing 26, and infecting 10,148 people.
Mass inoculation to restart Monday with Sinopharm, Tuesday with Moderna: DGHS
Mass inoculation for Covid-19 will restart from Monday (July 12) with Chinese vaccine Sinopharm in district and upazila hospitals and from Tuesday (July 13) with COVAX’s Modera jabs in municipal hospitals, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Sunday.
Line director of the vaccine deployment committee, Professor Dr Shamsul Haque announced the news during the regular Covid-19 bulletin of the DGHS.
By Sunday Moderna doses will reach vaccine centres across the country, while Sinopharm doses were sent Saturday to all the municipal centres, he said.
Also read: Massive vaccination to begin in July: PM
The additional stock has been ensured for sending to districts and upazilas, said Dr Shamsul Haque, mentioning that all the preparation for mass inoculation has been completed.
As from Monday and the next day, people across the country will start getting shots again, it can be said that mass inoculation for Covi-19 resumed, he added.
Dr Haque said the 1 lakh doses of Pfizer vaccine so far received will be administered at the seven hospitals of Dhaka and after that Moderna vaccine doses will be administered in these hospitals.
Also read: Registration for Covid vaccination to restart Thursday
In the other 40 Covid-19 vaccination centres of the city, Sinopharm vaccine shots will be administered till Monday and after that Moderna shots will be administered in those hospitals, he added.
Soon a decision will be taken on the urgent vaccination needs of the students who want to go abroad for study as a conversation with the Prime Minister is ongoing, said the line director of the vaccine deployment committee.
Until now expatriate workers were being vaccinated in seven centres of Dhaka, but from Monday they will be able to receive the shots from any medical college of the country, said Dr Shamsul.
Covid shatters all records in Bangladesh with 230 single-day deaths, 11,856 cases
The Covid-19 situation in Bangladesh is getting more fatal with every passing day, as the country saw the highest-ever 230 deaths and 11,856 new cases in 24 hours till Sunday morning.
With the new numbers, Bangladesh’s death tally hit 16,419 while the caseload 1,021,189, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Earlier, Bangladesh reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality of 212 on July 9, and 11, 651 cases on July 8.
However, the country’s daily case positivity rate fell to 29.67% from Saturday’s 31.46%, as 40,015 samples were tasted during the period.
The fatality rate today rose to 1.61% from Saturday’s 1.60%, said the DGHS.
Bangladesh has been seeing over 150 deaths for a week since its logging 164 deaths on July 4. Also, the average new daily detected cases remained over 10,000 for the last seven days.
Also read: Covid nightmare in Barisal division: Record caseload of 710 reported
The country saw 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June marking the most fatal months of this year. Also, July was the most fatal month of 2020, reporting 1,264 deaths followed by 1,197 deaths in June that year.
So far, 874,501 people recovered from the disease taking the country’s recovery rate to 85.64%, which is on the decline compared to other indicators.
Of the latest deceased, 133 were men and 97 women.
Khulna division, the emerging hotspot of Covid, saw 66 of the deaths during the 24-hour period, while Dhaka reported 56 and Chattogram 39. Besides, 26 people in Rajshahi, 22 in Rangpur, eight each in Barishal and Sylhet and five in Mymensingh divisions died of Covid-19.
Vaccination drive
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany), Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government resumed the countrywide mass registration on July 8 for receiving Covid-19 jabs, which remained suspended for around three months as vaccine procurement became unsure.
Also read: 14 more covid patients die in Khulna
Bangladesh is currently administering the doses of Sinopharm vaccine and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and also the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of now, 206,140 people received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and 2,254 have received the second dose of it.
Meanwhile, 22,342 people have received the first jab of Pfizer vaccine, including 6,644 in the past 24 hours.
Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses, 4,295,218 received the second shot and 5,820,033 the first one so far.
Covid onslaught in Bangladesh continues; 185 more die
Passing through a catastrophic phase of Covid-19 pandemic, Bangladesh reported 185 more coronavirus-related deaths and 8,772 new cases in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
The new numbers pushed the country’s death tally to 16,189 while the caseload to 10,09,315, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Bangladesh already crossed the 1-million mark of Covid cases on Thursday.
The new infections were detected after testing 27,884 samples during the period. This takes the daily case positivity rate to 31.46% from Friday’s 31.62, said the DGHS.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.60 during the period.
So far, 868,139 people have recovered from the disease, putting the recovery rate at 86.01% a declining indicator unlike others.
Bangladesh has been seeing above 10,000 Covid cases on average for the last seven days as the second wave of the Coronavirus continues to play havoc.
Dhaka division, the worst hit region, reported 70 of the deaths today while Khulna the newly-emerged hotspot saw 51 deaths. Besides 20 people died in Chattogram, 13 in Rajshahi, 11 in Rangpur, 10 in Barishal, seven in Sylhet and three in Mymensingh divisions during the period.
Also read: 14 more die of Covid at Rajshahi hospital
Vaccination drive
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany), Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government resumed the countrywide mass registration for receiving Covid-19 jabs on July 8, which remained suspended for around three months as vaccine procurement became unsure.
Bangladesh is currently administering the doses of Sinopharm vaccine and Pfizer BioNTech vaccine and also the second dose of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine.
As of now, 162,513 people received the first dose of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, and 2,237 have received the second dose of it.
Meanwhile, 15,698 people have received the first jab of Pfizer vaccine, including 5,925 in the past 24 hours.
Of the Astrazeneca vaccine doses, 4,294,911 received the second shot and 5,820,023 the first one so far.
Also read: Covid claims 18 more lives in Kushtia
Vaccine procurement update
Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen on Wednesday said Bangladesh is hopeful of receiving more vaccine doses this month from Japan, the European Union (EU) and the USA under COVAX facility apart from a steady flow of that from China.
Dr Momen said Bangladesh is expected to get around 2.5 million doses of vaccine from Japan while 1 million from the EU under the COVAX facility. “These’re likely to be AstraZeneca vaccine doses.”
The Foreign Minister said he talked to the Japanese Foreign Minister recently and Bangladesh mentioned about Japan’s vaccine supply to others.
Dr Momen said Japan will provide vaccine doses to Bangladesh, too but the exact quantity was not mentioned. But a big quantity of vaccine doses is expected to arrive this week or next week under the COVAX facility. “We expect it’ll be around 2.5 million doses.”
Meanwhile, Health Minister Zahid Maleque today said Bangladesh will receive 60 lakh more doses of Pfizer vaccine from COVAX facility by early August.
Minister Maleque said the World Health Organization (WHO) has confirmed the vaccine delivery information on Friday through a letter.
“By the end of July or in the beginning of August, we’ll receive 50 lakh doses of Covid-19 vaccine from China, too,” Zahid Maleque added.
“We’re hopeful of having 1 to 1.5 crore doses of vaccines in our stock within one and a half months. More vaccines will be coming in August,” he said.
36 more dengue cases reported in 24 hrs
Bangladesh reported 36 new dengue cases in the last 24 hours until Thursday morning as concern mounted over the spread of the mosquito-borne disease during the monsoon.
The recent spike in dengue cases has compounded worries as the country continues to grapple with the devastating second wave of the coronavirus pandemic.
Read: 32 more dengue cases reported in 24 hrs
A total of 151 patients diagnosed with dengue are currently receiving treatment at different government and private hospitals across the country as of Thursday morning, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Thirty-six new patients were admitted to different hospitals in Dhaka in the last 24 hours and none was reported to be hospitalized outside Dhaka during the period.
Read: 100 dengue patients undergoing treatment at hospitals across country
So far, 601 patients have been admitted to different hospitals with dengue since January and of them, 450 have been released after recovery.
Health authorities reported 1,193 dengue cases and three confirmed dengue-related deaths in 2020.
According to official figures, 101,354 dengue cases and 179 deaths were recorded in Bangladesh in 2019.
Read: 30 more with dengue hospitalised in Dhaka in 24 hrs
Dengue fever was first reported in Bangladesh in 2000 when it claimed 93 lives. In the following three years, the fatalities almost fell to zero.
However, the mosquito-borne viral infection struck again in 2018, killing 26, and infecting 10,148 people.
Registration for Covid vaccination to restart Thursday
Amid the deteriorating coronavirus situation, the government is going to resume the countrywide mass registration for receiving Covid-19 jabs from Thursday (July 8), said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Tuesday.
“The registration process will resume for all from Thursday morning,” Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman, Director (MIS) of the DGHS, told UNB.
“Currently, the registration is ongoing only in three categories on a priority basis. As the mass registration process resumes, all the categories will be available for registering through the Surokkha app as before,” he said.
Earlier, on June 30, Dr Shamsul Haque, member secretary of the Vaccine Deployment Committee, also made the same announcement at a virtual press briefing arranged by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
He said the Sinopharm jabs will be administered at 40 centers in Dhaka city and at all district hospitals from 8am to 3pm every day as in the past.
Also read: Bangladesh’s Covid catastrophe worsens; 163 more lives lost
Dr Haque said the vaccine will also be given at Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases (BITID) in Chattogram and Saidpur Sadar Hospital during the same period.
He said those who got registered earlier but could not receive the vaccines will be given the Sinopharm jabs now while the medical and university students and those who are on the priority lists can get registered for the vaccine. “Everyone will get an SMS from a vaccination centre after the registration and all must receive the vaccine at that centre accordingly. “In this case, the vaccine card and NID card must be brought for receiving the vaccine.”
Dr Haque said the Covid vaccination centers will remain out of the purview of the lockdown. “Those who have vaccine cards will be able to go to the relevant centre showing it.”
He said the expatriate workers who stay in countries where the Sinopharm vaccine is accepted also can receive the vaccine at the centers both in Dhaka and outside. “But no one will get the vaccine without registration.”
Also read: Chinese firms working with Bangladeshi partners for vaccine co-production
Besides, Dr Haque said, the Pfizer vaccine will also be administered at seven centers--Dhaka Medical College and Hospital, Salimullah Medical College and Hospital, Mugda Medical College Hospital, Shaheed Suhrawardy Medical College and Hospital, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Kurmitola General Hospital, and Sheikh Russel National Gastroliver Institute and Hospital—in the capital.
He said the outbound expatriate workers who are not allowed to return to their workplaces without getting Pfizer vaccine can only receive the vaccine at the seven centers as per the list from the Manpower Export Promotion Bureau.
Dr Haque said those who are supposed to receive Sinopharm jabs from these centres will have to go to alternative centres.
Bangladesh’s Covid catastrophe worsens; 163 more lives lost
In a disastrous turn, Bangladesh recorded its highest-ever 11,525 cases in 24 hours until Tuesday morning as the case positivity rate hit 31.46%.
During the period, the country lost 163 more lives to Covid-19, according to a handout provided by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
On Monday, Bangladesh saw a record-high 9,964 cases and 164 deaths as both infections and deaths are mounting at an alarming speed.
The new numbers took the country’s death toll to 15, 392 while the caseload to 966,406.
The fresh coronavirus cases were detected after testing 36,631 samples during the period, the DGHS said.
However, the case fatality remained unchanged at 1.59% during the period.
So far, 844,515 people have recovered from the disease putting the recovery rate at 87.39%, which is declining unlike other indicators.
Also read: At 1,865, Khulna records highest single-day Covid cases
Among today’s deceased, 91 were aged above 60, 29 aged between 51-60, 27 were aged between 41-50, 11 aged between 31-40 and five were aged between 21-30, showed the DGHS handout.
Khulna division logged 46 deaths today, while Dhaka saw 45 and Rajshahi and Chattogram 24 each. Besides, 11 died in Rangpur, six in Barishal, five in Rangpur and two in Mymensingh divisions.