Covid-19 update
Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Death toll nears 200 again as 195 more die
Although the country saw well below 200 fatalities for three consecutive days as of Friday, it came close to the grim landmark again as 195 people died of Covid-19 in 24 hours till Saturday morning.
Bangladesh recorded 6,780 new cases of infections during the period after testing 20,827 samples.
With Covid's Delta variant spreading fast, the country's fatalities had been hovering at nearly 200 for the last two weeks. It reported the highest daily Covid-19 fatality number – 231 – on July 19 and 13,768 infections on the 12th of the month.
Read: Covid-19: Bangladesh reports 13 more deaths, 438 fresh cases
There have been 1,153,344 infections and 19,046 coronavirus deaths here since the pandemic started, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate increased to 32.55 % from Saturday’s 31.05% , when the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.
The death rate increased to 1.65% after remaining static at 1.64%for some days.
The recovery rate rose to 85.62% with 9,723 patients recovering during the 24- hour period.
Read: Covid refuses to slow down in Bangladesh; 199 more die
As usual, Dhaka division recorded the highest 68 deaths followed by 41 in Khulna, 36 in Chattogram, 18 in Rajshahi, 16 in Rangpur, 10 in Mymensingh, five in Barishal and one in Sylhet divisions.
Of them, 103 were men and 92 were women.
As per their age breakdown, one was under 10, two were between 11-20, 16 between 31-40, 31 between 41-50, 45 between 51-60 and 100 were above 60, the release added.
Bangladesh sees 173 more Covid deaths as pandemic eclipses Eid celebrations
Marking another grim Eid under the shadow of a pandemic and amid growing concerns about the highly infectious delta variant, Bangladesh saw 173 more Covid-19 deaths Wednesday.
Also, Covid-19 infections in the country have reached 97% of the peak, with 11,533 new cases reported on average each day. The highest daily average was recorded on July 15.
Read:Covid refuses to slow down in Bangladesh; 199 more die
Bangladesh recorded 7,614 new infections in 24 hours till Wednesday morning after testing 24,979 samples – 14,531 fewer compared to yesterday.
The country reported its highest daily Covid-19 fatality number – 231 – on July 19 and 13,768 infections on the 12th of the month. Wednesday's death counts and cases are the lowest in 14 days and 18 days.
However, Bangladesh is in the grip of a second wave of the virus that is threatening to overwhelm its health service. There have been 1,136,503 infections and 18,498 coronavirus-related deaths here since the pandemic began, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
Meanwhile, the daily test positivity rate rose to 30.48% from Tuesday's 29.31% when the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a 5% or below rate.
As the death rate stood at 1.63%, Dhaka division reported the highest 58 deaths, Khulna 38, Chattogram 32, Rangpur 16, Rajshahi 11, Barishal eight, Sylhet six, and Mymensingh four.
However, the recovery rate increased to 84.56%.
So far, Bangladesh has administered at least 11,341,291 doses of Covid vaccines – enough to have vaccinated around 3.1% of the country's population, assuming every person needs two doses.
The government allowed an eight-day pause in the nationwide strict lockdown for Eid-ul-Azha despite fears that crowding at shopping centres, cattle markets, and big gatherings could become super-spreader events.
The country imposed its toughest lockdown at the start of July. Under the lockdown, people were only allowed to leave home to buy essentials and for emergencies.
However, with the recent removal of the curbs ahead of Eid celebrations, people were seen breaking Covid-19 rules while they were on the streets and in the markets and malls.
Uncontrolled movement of people and rampant breaches of health rules before and after Eid could make things worse because of the fallout from the lockdown pause.
At least 26.2 lakh subscribers of the four telecom operators left Dhaka in three days starting July 15 to celebrate Eid, according to Post and Telecommunication Minister Mustafa Jabbar.
With Covid's Delta variant spreading fast, the country's fatalities have been hovering at approximately 200 for the last two weeks.
July looks to be the most devastating month since Bangladesh saw its fast Covid cases in March 2020, with around 4,000 deaths so far. Earlier, it recorded 2,404 Covid deaths in April, 1,169 in May and 1,884 in June.
The WHO has reported that globally, Covid-19 cases and deaths had soared after periods of decline, with the reversal spurred in part by the delta variant.
Read: Covid-19 death toll in Bangladesh crosses 12,000
WHO chief warns about more dangerous strain of novel coronavirus
The World Health Organization (WHO) Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned about the possibility of a new novel coronavirus strain that would be more dangerous than the delta variant.
"The more transmission, the more variants will emerge with the potential to be even more dangerous than the Delta variant that is causing such devastation now," he said. "And the more variants, the higher the likelihood that one of them will evade vaccines and take us all back to square one."
Read: What should I know about the delta variant?
In his words, the novel coronavirus pandemic is a test, and the global community is failing to cope with it.
"It’s a question I am often asked, and which the people of the world are asking: when will this pandemic end? Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has asked us many questions: About ourselves; and about our world," the official said during his opening remarks at the 138th International Olympic Committee Session. "The pandemic is a test. And the world is failing."
"In the time it takes me to make these remarks, more than 100 people will lose their lives to COVID-19," he continued. "And by the time the Olympic flame is extinguished on the 8th of August, more than 100 thousand more people will perish."
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said he was sure that the reason why the world is still unable to tackle the pandemic despite having all the necessary instruments is the lack of real political commitments.
"The governments of G20 countries, in particular, must show leadership to ensure the urgent scale-up and deployment of the tools needed to save lives," he said. "If they choose to, the world’s leading economies could bring the pandemic under control globally in a matter of months by sharing doses through COVAX, funding the ACT Accelerator, and incentivizing manufacturers to do whatever it takes to scale up production."
Vaccination goal
Vaccinating 70% of every country’s population would allow not only to stop the novel coronavirus pandemic, but also to restart the global economy, Ghebreyesus said.
"Together with the heads of the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank and the World Trade Organization, I have called for a massive global push to vaccinate at least 10% of the population of every country by September, at least 40% by the end of the year, and 70% by mid-next year," the official said during his opening remarks at the 138th International Olympic Committee Session. "If we can reach those targets, we can not only end the pandemic, we can also reboot the global economy."
Read: IEDCR study of 50 samples finds 40 are Delta
In his words, the world needs 11 billion doses of vaccines to achieve this goal.
Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made a call to companies and businesses, saying they "have a social responsibility."
"Most vaccines were developed with public funds. Many companies have made commitments to sharing doses, but many of those commitments are yet to be fulfilled," the WHO chief said, adding that "with so many lives on the line, profits and patents must come second."
"If nations can mobilize the power of industry for war, why can they not do the same to defeat this common enemy?" he added.
Delta variant in children: Chattogram reveals troubling data
Highly contagious delta variant of Coronavirus, identified first in India, has been detected among all recent Covid-19 cases among children of Chattogram.
Researchers came up with the conclusion after genome sequencing of 12 samples of children admitted to the Chattogram Maa o Shishu Hospital (Chattogram Mother and Child Care Hospital) and Chattogram General Hospital in between June to July first week.
Read: Covid-19: 1.5-month-old in Kushtia gets infected
A team of researchers of these hospitals and Chattogram University conducted the study.
Chattogram General Hospital Corona unit chief Abdur Rab Masum, a member of the research team, said,” This research is still going on. The sequence data from the study were published in the ‘Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data’, a German-based international database of global viruses. On Saturday morning, they published the information on their website.
Read 'Dangerous period' with delta variant: WHO
The study found that 80 percent of the affected children are below 10 years of age. The Delta type has been identified among the lowest eight months old infants.
Although prior studies of the same team revealed Covid transmission is more among men, an exception was found in case of children. The Chattogram researchers found 50% of the positive cases were boys while the other 50 % were girls.
Read: Will children be able to get COVID-19 vaccines?
The study also revealed that 95% of the children had fever and 80% had cold and cough, while only one child was completely asymptomatic.
Chattogram General Hospital’s physician Dr Hamidullah Mehdi, who led the study, said observations over the last four months have shown that there were Covid outbreaks by Alpha and Beta variants in Chattogram till May. But the Delta type has been seen in 90 percent of the patients since June.
“The most worrying aspect is the significant increase in Delta infections in children,” he said.
Read Brazil reopens amid looming threat from delta variant
Sanjay Kanti Biswas, one of the members of the research team, said, "We’ve not seen coronavirus transmission among children at such a significant rate in the last one year. But the number of infections and severity have increased since last June.”
“Our research shows that this is due to the Delta variant of the virus. As young children are unable to express their feelings or weaknesses, many won’t be subjected to corona tests or identification, which is also a matter of concern,” he added.
Read: Over 850,000 children in US test positive for COVID-19
A research of the Virology Department of Icddr’b, led by Dr Mustafizur Rahman and Dr Md Enayet Hossain, supervised the genome sequencing.
The Covid-19 Delta variant is highly contagious and spreads rapidly in unvaccinated individuals.
On June 23, Dr Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health and chief medical advisor to the president of the United States commented that children “will more likely get infected” with this variant than the Alpha variety. This sparked some concern across the world from parents, however experts suggested that there is no need to panic as Covid-19 fatality among children is still very insignificant.
Read Vaccine deliveries rising as delta virus variant slams Asia
It was premature to rule out Covid lab leak: WHO
The head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has acknowledged it was "premature" to rule out a potential link between the Covid-19 pandemic and a laboratory leak.
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus Thursday said getting access to raw data had been a challenge for the international team that travelled to China earlier this year to investigate the source of Covid-19.
Read: Scientists reject Covid-19 conspiracy claims over lab origin
He said there had been a "premature push" to rule out the theory that the virus might have escaped from a Chinese government lab in Wuhan – undermining the WHO's March report, which concluded that a laboratory leak was "extremely unlikely."
The first human cases were identified in China's Wuhan city. Tedros told reporters that the UN health agency is "asking China to be transparent, open and cooperate, especially on the information, raw data that we asked for at the early days of the pandemic."
"I was a lab technician myself, I'm an immunologist, and I have worked in the lab, and lab accidents happen. It's common," he said.
In recent months, the idea that the pandemic started somehow in a laboratory – and perhaps involved an engineered virus – has gained traction, especially with President Joe Biden ordering a review of US intelligence to assess the possibility in May.
China has struck back aggressively, arguing that attempts to link the origins of Covid-19 to a lab are politically motivated and has suggested that the outbreak might have started abroad.
Read: WHO report says animals likely source of COVID
Most scientists suspect that the coronavirus originated in bats, but the exact route by which it first jumped into people – via an intermediary animal or in some other way – has not yet been determined. It typically takes decades to narrow down the natural source of an animal virus like Ebola or SARS.
"We need information, direct information on what the situation of this lab was before and at the start of the pandemic," the WHO chief said, adding that China's cooperation was critical. "If we get full information, we can exclude (the lab connection)."
Numerous public health experts have also called for an independent examination of Covid-19's origins, arguing the WHO does not have the political clout to conduct such a forensic analysis and that the UN agency has failed after more than a year to extract critical details from China.
Jamie Metzl, who has led a group of scientists calling for a broader origins investigation, welcomed Tedros' comments but said it was "deeply unfortunate and dangerous" that there were no current plans for a probe led by experts beyond the UN health agency, saying that China has repeatedly blocked requests for all relevant records and samples.
Georgetown University law professor Lawrence Gostin, an expert in public health law, said Tedros' unusual plea for Chinese cooperation underlines how weak the WHO is. "It has no power or political heft to demand access to information critical for global health."
Any WHO-led mission to China also requires government approval for all experts who travel to the country, as well as permission to visit field sites and final approval on any trip report.
Tedros' appeal for transparency was echoed by German Health Minister Jens Spahn, who urged Chinese officials to allow the investigation into the origins of the virus to proceed.
"We do appreciate the cooperation of the Chinese government so far for the first mission. But that's not yet enough," he said.
India's health ministry says not enough evidence to link COVID-19 with increase in TB
India's federal health ministry said on Saturday there was not enough scientific evidence to link COVID-19 with increase in Tuberculosis (TB) in the country.
"Due to the impact of COVID-19 related restrictions, case notifications for TB had decreased by about 25 percent in 2020 but special efforts are being made to mitigate this impact through intensified case finding in OPD settings as well as through active case finding campaigns in the community by all states," the ministry said.
Read: Indian COVID variant: Why is it more deadly?
"Moreover, there is not enough evidence currently to suggest that there has been an increase in TB cases due to COVID-19 or due to increased case finding efforts."
The ministry refuted local media reports alleging that a sudden rise in cases of TB has been noticed among patients who were infected with COVID-19 recently.
"It is clarified that TB screening for all COVID-19 positive patients and COVID-19 screening for all diagnosed TB patients has been recommended by the ministry of health and family welfare. States have been asked for convergence in efforts for better surveillance and case finding of TB and COVID-19, as early as August 2020," the ministry said.
According to the ministry, the dual morbidity of TB and COVID-19 can be further highlighted through the facts that both the diseases are known to be infectious and primarily attack the lungs, presenting similar symptoms of cough, fever and difficulty in breathing, although TB has a longer incubation period and a slower onset of disease.
Read: 17 India returnees test positive for Covid-19
"SARS-CoV-2 infection can make an individual more susceptible to developing active TB disease, as TB is an opportunistic infection like black fungus," the ministry said.
Third wave begins: 3.5 mln weekly Covid infections detected worldwide since May
The number of confirmed coronavirus infections worldwide over the past seven days has increased by 3.5 mln. The world documented 0.5 mln more infections than a week before, according to TASS’ calculations.
Due to another increase in Western Europe and North America, the incidence returned to the level of late May, and specialists are concerned that this is only the beginning: as Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO) Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus stated, the world is in the early stages of another wave of the pandemic.
TASS gathered key statistics of the pandemic for this week.
Read: Global Covid cases near 190 million
A new rise
In a number of countries where the situation has stabilized since spring, the spread rates of the coronavirus infection are on the rise again. For example, the US began to detect more than 30,000 daily infections for the first time since mid-May, while in June this indicator went below 10,000.
In Russia, since late June the number of confirmed cases has not gone below 20,000 a day, and over the past two days it has been surpassing 25,000.
The situation in Western Europe is rapidly deteriorating as well: in the UK, the number of daily detected cases is approaching 50,000 (compared to 5,000 in early summer), while in the Netherlands it has surpassed 10,000 for the first time since December. On Tuesday, Spanish authorities reported a record high of the infections since the beginning of the pandemic - over 43,000 per day.
The incidence in Italy and Germany has almost doubled (however, right now this is about 2,500 and 1,500 daily infections, respectively), and in France, where it increased 1.6-fold in one week, the authorities introduced serious restrictions: since August 1, the French won’t be able to enter bars, restaurants and shopping centers without special sanitary passports, while medical and rescue workers will have to undergo mandatory vaccination.
Read: Global Covid cases near 189 million
A new decrease
According to statistics, Latin America in general has weathered another wave of the epidemic. In Brazil, the number of confirmed cases has been decreasing for the second week in a row and is already below 40,000 a day, while in Argentina it has decreased approximately 2.7-fold compared to early summer.
In Colombia, the coronavirus spread rates have dropped by a third - this week the country has been documenting on average about 20,000 daily infections. This corresponds to the indicators of the end of May.
Mexico remains an exception since the growth in incidence began there precisely at the end of spring. During the last two days it has been documenting over 10,000 cases of the infection for the first time since February.
In another part of the planet, the incidence has been decreasing in South Africa where last week it reached its peak. The country that has been documenting 26,000 daily infections is currently registering about 15,000 infections a day.
Read: Global Covid cases top 184 million
A growth in fatalities
Over seven days the world has recorded over 55,000 deaths caused by the coronavirus infection which is 2,500 more than last week.
The number of fatalities is rapidly growing in Indonesia - there about 1,000 fatalities are being recorded daily against the background of a serious rise in incidence. This is one of the highest levels worldwide surpassed only by Brazil where about 1,200 infected are dying daily (which is a quarter less than the previous week).
Russia has been setting daily records in terms of fatalities for several days in a row. On Friday, the country reported almost 800 deaths caused by the coronavirus infection.
At the same time, the number of fatalities has been decreasing in Argentina and Colombia. In the former it has decreased from 500 to less than 400 a day, while in the latter - from 600 to 550.
Bangladesh still in life-and-death race with Covid; 226 more die
When the lockdown restrictions were eased on one hand ahead of Eid, Bangladesh recorded its second highest 226 Covid-19 deaths in 24 hours till Thursday morning on the other.
Besides, 12,236 fresh cases were detected during the period.
The new numbers took the country’s death tally to 17,278 and the caseload to 10,71,774, according to a handout issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The fresh cases were detected after testing 46,604 samples during the period, bringing down the case positivity rate to 27. 23% from Wednesday’s 29.14%.
However, the case fatality rate remained unchanged at 1.61% during the 24-hour period.
Read: Covid shatters all records in Bangladesh with 230 single-day deaths
The country saw a record number of 13,768 Covid cases on Monday and the highest-ever 230 deaths on Sunday.
So far, 905,807 people have recovered from the disease, taking the country’s recovery rate to 84.51%.
Of the deceased, 72 died in Dhaka division, 52 in Khulna, 42 in Chattogram, 28 in Rajshahi, 13, Rangpur, 10 in Mymensingh, six in Barishal, and five died in Sylhet.
Among them, 140 were men and 86 women.
Age breakdown: One of the deceased was between 0-10, one was between 11-20, six were between 21-30, 12 between 31-40, 36 between 41-50, 49 between 51-60, 50 were between 61-70, 44 were between 71-80, 22 were between 81-90, three were between 91-100 and two were above 100 years of age.
Read: No respite from Covid deaths in Bangladesh; 220 more lose battle
Vaccination drive
According to the handout, 1,32,604 people received the first dose of Sinopharm vaccine, 6,267 from Pfizer and 39,325 from Moderna during the 24-hour period.
Expanding the vaccine eligibility target, Health Minister Zahid Maleque on Thursday said everyone above 18 years will gradually be vaccinated in Bangladesh.
“Arrangements are being made to gradually bring all citizens above 18 years under the Covid-19 vaccination programme in order to revive the country's education system,” he said.
Zahid Maleque came up with the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a progamme on Covid-19 ICU Bed Expansion and inauguration of the Outpatient Department of Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH).
Read: Covid claims 210 more lives in Bangladesh, 12,383 more test positive
“At present, the government has 45 lakh doses of vaccines in stock. We’ll receive 29 lakh doses of AstraZeneca vaccine very soon. Besides, Pfizer vaccine doses will reach the country within the next month,” he added.
“Our health sector has the capacity to store 3 crore doses of vaccine. So, there’ll be no problem in storing and distributing vaccines,” the minister said.
Covid: 9 die in Natore in 24 hours
The Covid-19 situation is deteriorating in Natore with each passing day. As many as nine people have succumbed to the virus in the past 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday morning.
Besides, the district has logged 93 fresh Covid cases since Monday morning. Some 293 samples were tested during this period, the officials said.
Read: Covid-19: 3 brothers inseparable in death
The positivity rate in Natore now stands at 32%, reports our correspondent.
But when deaths are not enough to instill fear in people, it's natural that fines or arrests won’t deter people from venturing out amid strict lockdown restrictions.
Read: Covid-19: Positivity rate now 62% in Natore sadar, municipality
In Natore, people were seen roaming around without masks on Tuesday morning, while many shops remained reopen in clear violation of the lockdown restrictions.
19 more Covid patients die at Khulna hospitals
Nineteen more people have died of Covid-19 at four different hospitals in Khulna in the past 24 hours, health officials said on Tuesday.
Ten of the patients tested positive for Covid, while the remaining showed symptoms of the virus, the officials said.
Read: 10 more die of Covid in Khulna
Of them, 10 died at Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital, four each at the Covid unit of Khulna General Hospital and Gazi Medical College Hospital, and one at Shahid Sheikh Abu Naser Hospital.
Khulna Corona Dedicated Hospital's nodal officer Dr Suhas Ranjan Haldar said that 10 people have died at the hospital in the past 24 hours. Of them, five were confirmed Covid-19 patients.
Besides, 195 people are currently undergoing treatment at the hospital. Of them, 130 are receiving treatment in the red zone, 25 in the yellow zone and 20 in the ICU (intensive care unit), said Dr Suhas.
Read: Covid claims 46 more lives in Khulna division,
Some 43 people have been admitted to the hospital in the past 24 hours, while 42 were discharged from the hospital, he said.
An official at Gazi Medical College and Hospital said that four people have died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours.
Kazi Abu Rashed, spokesman for the corona unit of Khulna General Hospital, said 12 people were admitted to the medical facility in the past 24 hours and eight patients discharged after recovery.
Dr Chandra Debnath Shekhar, spokesman for Shaheed Sheikh Abu Naser Specialised Hospital, said that 44 patients are currently being treated at the hospital and of them 10 are in the ICU.