Bangladesh on Tuesday recorded over 5,000 new coronavirus cases for the second straight day, signalling a tough fight ahead for the country as people are still reluctant about following basic health guidelines.

With 5,042 new cases in a 24-hour period until morning, the caseload rose to 605,937, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Meanwhile, the coronavirus fatalities climbed to 8,994 with 45 more deaths recorded until morning.

Bangladesh reported its first coronavirus cases on March 8 last year and the first death on the 18th of that month.

The DGHS said the infection rate jumped to 18.94 percent from 18.38 percent on Monday when Bangladesh recorded its highest-ever single day case count (5,181).

During the 24-hour period, 2,162 coronavirus patients recovered, taking the total number of recovered patients to 540,180.

The government has ramped up testing, intensified vaccination campaign and efforts to ensure that the people properly follow health guidelines and hygiene rules.

So far, 4,643,645 samples have been tested – including 26,620 in the last 24 hours, the DGHS said.

Dhaka sees highest Covid deaths

The mortality rate slipped slightly to 1.48 percent on Tuesday.

Among the deceased, 37 people died in Dhaka division, three in Chattogram, two in Rajshahi, two in Khulna and one in Sylhet.

So far, 5,118 coronavirus patients died in Dhaka division, 1,631 in Chattogram, 501 in Rajshahi, 579 in Khulna, 273 in Barishal, 318 in Sylhet, 373 in Rangpur and 201 in Mymensingh.

Govt bolsters protective steps

A spurt in Covid-19 infections prompted the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to issue an 18-point directive on Monday for the next two weeks to contain the spread of coronavirus.

On the same day, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said they proposed partial lockdowns for some places with higher Covid-19 transmission rates.

Other recommendations by the Health Ministry include closure of amusement centres, picnic spots, religious gatherings, limiting wedding ceremonies, strengthening quarantine systems, limiting passengers in public transports, and limiting attendance in offices.

It also suggested strong enforcement of the ‘no mask no service’ policy, increasing numbers of mobile courts and slapping fines on health guideline violators.

Vaccination drive

The government rolled out a countrywide mass vaccination campaign on February 7 with doses received from the Serum Institute of India.

Bangladesh inked an agreement with Serum in December last year for 30 million doses to be supplied between January and June this year – 5 million each month.

Currently, those who are 40 years old or above and frontline workers are being prioritised for vaccination. Until Monday, 5,139,679 people received the first dose, according to official data. People can register for vaccination at surokkha.gov.bd.

Health experts say two doses of vaccine provide the maximum protection but it is important to properly follow all health guidelines before and after receiving both doses.

Global situation

Covid-19 cases were first reported in China in December 2019. Since then, countries around the world have reported more than 127.5 million cases.

Death toll from the fast-spreading virus is nearing 2.8 million, according to the data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.

A number of vaccines have been developed by scientists, the most notable of them are – Pfizer-BionTech, Moderna, and Oxford-AstraZeneca.

Bangladesh is using the Oxford-AstraZeneca one.