The Covid-19 fatality rate in Bangladesh decreased with health authorities reporting three more deaths and 197 infections in 24 hours till Friday morning. The daily-case positivity rate slightly decreased to 1.12 per cent from Thursday’s 1.32 per cent. However, the mortality rate remained static at 1.78 per cent. The fresh cases were detected after testing 17,446 samples, said the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Read: Bangladesh logs another 7 Covid-linked deaths, 247 fresh infections With the fresh numbers, the Covid-19 fatalities reached 27,890 while the caseload climbed to 15,70,681, according to the DGHS. Also, the recovery rate remained unchanged at 97.70 per cent with the recovery of 178 more patients during the period. So far, 30,208,700 people have fully been vaccinated in the country while 43,101,199 received the first dose as of Wednesday, according to the DGHS. Read: Possible winter wave of Covid: What measures experts suggest to tackle it Meanwhile, the campaign to vaccinate the school students of the 12-17 age group began in Dhaka on Monday. The vaccination campaign will be conducted at eight centres in the capital although it was scheduled to begin at 12 centres in the city. Other centres did not get approval due to lack of adequate facilities.

Covid-19 in Bangladesh claimed 17 more lives and infected 1,178 others in 24 hours till Wednesday morning, showing a slight decline in the number of fatalities and cases compared to that of the previous day. On Tuesday, the country logged 31 Covid deaths and 1,310 cases while 21 on Sunday, the lowest in four months. The fresh cases were detected after testing 28,599 samples. Read: Hasina's 'haseen' birthday gift: Over 66 lakh inoculations in single day

The global leaders have pledged financing, dose donations, support for country readiness and delivery, and scale-up of global manufacturing to enable equitable access to Covid vaccines. To improve access for the lower-income economies, the US will contribute an additional 500 million doses of Pfizer vaccine, to be delivered through COVAX, beginning in 2022. Sweden will provide an additional $243 million through 2021 and 2022. New dose commitments from the European Union, including Italy and Spain, as well as Sweden, Denmark, and Japan mean further doses will be available to COVAX participants in 2021 and 2022. Global leaders made the commitment while attending the Global Covid-19 Summit hosted by the US Thursday. They underlined their commitment to ensuring equitable access to Covid vaccines for all countries through COVAX – noting that equitable access is essential to end the acute stage of the pandemic. Building on the momentum and global solidarity generated over the past eighteen months by various commitments, including at summits organised by the European Commission, the G20 under the Saudi and Italian presidencies, the UK, including the G7 under its presidency, the US, and the prime minister of Japan, the summit saw further pledges made to COVAX and equitable access. READ: Declare Covid vaccines as 'global public good': Hasina Alongside these commitments, several countries pledged additional dose donations to be made available to countries around the world, including through COVAX, with Spain pledging an additional 7.5 million doses, Italy pledging an additional 30 million doses to be made available by the end of the year. And Japan, which hosted the "One World Protected" Gavi COVAX AMC Summit in June 2021, pledging approximately 60 million doses. Also, Denmark announced during the United Nations General Assembly this week that it would be doubling its dose donation commitment, bringing the total to 6 million doses pledged to be shared. José Manuel Barroso, chair of the Gavi board, said this summit marks a major step forward in the global response against Covid and a major step forward for multilateralism. Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the director-general of the World Health Organisation, said if they are to meet the targets they have set of vaccinating 10% of the population of all countries by the end of this month, 40% by the end of 2021 and 70% by mid-next-year, they need to drastically scale up access to vaccines now. Unicef Executive Director Henrietta Fore said with only 12% of the pledges made earlier this year turning into actual doses, low-income countries can no longer wait. "We urge dose-sharing countries to accelerate their donation plans." READ: Conduct study to understand vaccine performances, suitability in Bangladesh: Experts    Dr Seth Berkley, CEO of Gavi, said with the rise of variants and the current gap in equitable access to Covid vaccines they must urgently vaccinate those most at risk everywhere in the world. "We cannot afford further delays in getting vaccines to the most vulnerable – to do so will mean a continuation of this pandemic and its impact on all of our lives." So far COVAX has delivered more than 300 million doses to 142 economies, and according to the latest forecast, approximately 1.2 billion doses will be available for the lower-income economies supported by the COVAX Advance Market Commitment (AMC) by the end of 2021. This is enough to protect 20% of the population, or 40% of all adults, in all 92 AMC economies with the exception of India. The key COVAX milestone of 2 billion doses released for delivery is now expected to be reached in the first quarter of 2022.

New US studies released Friday show the Covid-19 vaccines remain highly effective against hospitalisations and death even as the highly contagious delta variant swept the country. One study tracked over 600,000 Covid-19 cases in 13 states from April through mid-July. As delta surged in early summer, those who were unvaccinated were 4.5 times more likely than the fully vaccinated to get infected, over 10 times more likely to be hospitalised and 11 times more likely to die, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). "Vaccination works," Dr Rochelle Walensky, CDC's director, told a White House briefing Friday. But as earlier data has shown, protection against Covid infection is slipping: It was 91% in the spring but 78% in June and July, the study found. So-called "breakthrough" cases in the fully vaccinated accounted for 14% of hospitalisations and 16% of deaths in June and July, about twice the percentage as earlier in the year. An increase in those percentages is not surprising: No one ever said the vaccines were perfect and health experts have warned that as more Americans get vaccinated, they naturally will account for a greater fraction of the cases. Read: Global vaccine disparity gets sharper amid talk of boosters Rochelle said Friday that well over 90% of people in US hospitals with Covid are unvaccinated. The CDC released two other studies Friday that signalled hints of waning protection for older adults. One examined Covid hospitalisations in nine states over the summer and found protection for those 75 and older was 76% compared to 89% for all other adults. And in five Veterans Affairs medical centres, protection against Covid hospitalisations was 95% among 18- to 64-year-olds compared to 80% among those 65 and older. It is not clear if the changes seen over time are because immunity is waning in people first vaccinated many months ago, that the vaccine is not quite as strong against delta – or that much of the country abandoned masks and other precautions just as delta started spreading. But the US health authorities will consider this latest real-world data as they decide if at least some Americans need a booster, and how soon after their last dose. Next week, advisers to the Food and Drug Administration will publicly debate Pfizer's application to offer a third shot.

On the eve of schools reopening in Bangladesh after almost 18 months, the head of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education (DSHE) has announced that students returning to school from Sunday will not be allowed to consume their tiffin or any food on the school premises, as part of the safety protocols that are being carefully stipulated ahead of the doors opening tomorrow morning.  “Students won’t be  able to have their tiffin on school premises," said Dr. Syed Md. Golam Faruk, who serves as  Director General of DSHE. "The institutions will only allow drinking water." Dr Faruk was responding to reporters' questions after inaugurating the Sylhet Government Women's College's Guardian Camp on Saturday (September 11th) morning. During this time he also requested the parents to avoid gathering at the school premises unnecessarily, for the sake of social distancing. 

Bangladesh logged 38 more Covid-19 deaths and 2,325 cases in 24 hours till Friday morning, showing a further decline in single-day fatalities and cases. The country reported 58 Covid-related deaths and 2,588 cases on Thursday, indicating a slight increase in both cases and fatalities. But the daily case positivity rate dropped a bit to 8.65  per cent from Thursday’s 8.76 per cent suggesting that the pandemic may be easing in Bangladesh. The fresh numbers pushed the country’s total fatalities to 26,832 while the cases reached 15,27,215 according to a DGHS handout. Also read: Covid-19: Bangladesh kicks off 2nd dose mass vaccination campaign

Maintaining the downtrend in the pandemic situation, Bangladesh reported 70 Covid-related deaths and 3,167 new cases in 24 hours till Friday morning. However, the positivity rate rose a bit to 10.76 % from Thursday’s 10.40 % during the period. Bangladesh logged 88 Covid-19 deaths and 3,436 cases on Thursday. The fresh numbers pushed the country’s total fatalities to 264,32 , while the cases reached 15.10,283, according to Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). Read: Bangladesh reports 88 Covid-19 deaths in past 24 hours: DGHS The country last saw 112 Coronavirus-related deaths on June 29 and the upswing in the fatalities reached its peak on August 5 and 10 when 264 deaths were recorded. The new cases were detected after testing 29,438 samples during the last 24 hours, the DGHS said. The recovery rate rose to 95.52per cent, while the case fatality remained static at  1.75 per cent compared to the corresponding period. Read: Global Covid cases near 219 million However, the situation was much more catastrophic from June to the better part of August as the country experienced a surge of Covid-related caseloads and deaths during that time. Between May and June this year, there was a 273% rise in monthly caseloads and 162% in fatalities. In July, there was a 150% increase in caseloads and a 170% rise in deaths compared to the previous month, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

The number of people testing positive for Covid-19 and dying from the virus has continued to fall in Bangladesh, the latest daily figures show. Bangladesh added 117 new fatalities to its national tally Friday – down from 145 logged a week earlier on August 20. The average number of Covid-related fatalities confirmed each day has dropped by more than 110 over the last three weeks, 46% of the previous peak. The country reported below 100, 77 fatalities, on June 26, the highest fatality number – 264 – on August 5 and 10, and 16,230 infections on July 28. Bangladesh is now seeing a sustained drop in the daily case numbers, reporting 5,059 new cases on average each day – 35% of the peak. The highest daily average was reported on August 3. Read: Bangladesh to receive 60 lakh more Pfizer vaccine doses in Aug: Minister

Bangladesh logged 120 Covid-related deaths in 24 hours till Saturday morning, the lowest in about two months amid concern over the unlocking of the country from restrictions imposed to check the spread of the virus. The country last saw 119 Coronavirus related deaths on June 27 and the upward curve of the fatalities reached its peak on August 5 and 10 with 264 deaths. Besides, 3,991 more people came out positive with the virus after testing 23,882 samples during the last 24 hours, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS). The fresh number pushed the country’s total fatalities to 25,143 while the cases reached 1,457,194. Read: US okays Covid booster dose for those with weak immune systems Meanwhile the case positivity rate fell to 16.71 % from Friday’s 17.18% , said the DGHS. The country last recorded 16.38% daily case positivity rate on June 20. The recovery rate rose to 93.02 %, but the case fatality increased to 1.73 % compared to the same period. Among the new deaths, 40 died in the Dhaka division, 27 in Chattogram , 15 in Khulna, 13 Sylhet, nine in Rajshahi, seven in Rangpur, six in Mymensingh and three in Barishal division. Read Dengue vs. COVID-19: Symptoms, when & where to test, ways of prevention Of them 69 were male and 51 female. The country is currently seeing around 170 deaths and 6,800 cases on a seven day average. Meanwhile, the government managed to vaccinate 6,395,466 with two doses, while another 16,386,203 people have received the first dose to date, said DGHS.

The Philippines has extended a ban on travellers from Bangladesh and nine other countries to August 31 because of concerns posed by the highly contagious Delta variant of the Covid-19, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Friday. Aside from India where the Delta variant was first detected, the Philippines also banned travellers from Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Oman, and the UAE, where the variant has spread. However, the country will allow returning overseas Filipino workers under its repatriation programme, but they will be isolated for 14 days upon their arrival. Read: Bangladesh reports 197 new deaths as it fails to take hold on Covid The Philippines is grappling with soaring Covid-19 infections fueled by the highly transmissible Delta variant, prompting the government to reimpose a hard lockdown in Metro Manila and other regions. The Philippines now has more than 1.7 million confirmed Covid-19 cases and 29,539 deaths. The travel ban, first issued on April 27, was later expanded to include Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Oman, and the UAE. On July 16, the country added Indonesia to the list, followed by Malaysia and Thailand on July 25. The ban was set to expire on Sunday, but the government extended it until August 31.