Bangladesh logs highest daily 201 Covid deaths

The daily number of Covid deaths surpassed 200 for the first time in the country on Wednesday with the viral disease taking a heavy toll on elderly people.

In 24 hours until 8:00am on Wednesday, 201 new Covid deaths were confirmed along with 11,162 new cases while the test positivity rate stood at over 31 per cent.

This is for the 11th day that the daily Covid death count remained above 100 with the overall number of deaths reaching at 15,593 since the first cases of novel coronavirus infection was detected in the country on March 8, 2020.

More than 100 of the people died during the past 24 hours were aged above 60 years, exposing the risk that the elderly people of the country is facing due to the rapid deterioration in the overall Covid situation.

‘This is our responsibility to protect people aged above 60 years old who are dying in far greater number than the people of any other age groups,’ said Directorate General of Health Services director Nazmul Islam at an online press briefing.

The number of active Covid cases on Wednesday stood at 1,11,473, with 1,413 of them in critical condition, as hospitals across the country battled the disease with poor preparedness.

‘We will face a great healthcare challenge if daily Covid cases continue to grow as it has done over the past one month,’ said Nazmul.

 

The DGHS continued to request people to abide by the Covid health guidelines and the restriction rules amid reports of their widespread violation across the country.

The fresh deaths were reported from 51 districts, covering 80 per cent of the country’s administrative regions, with the highest 29 deaths recorded in Dhaka district, according to the daily health update of the DGHS.

All districts in Mymensingh, Rajshahi and Khulna divisions saw people die of Covid-19 with Jashore and Khulna districts reporting 12 deaths each and Kushtia 10.

Cumilla district recorded nine deaths while Jhenidah recorded eight and Narail and Bagerhat seven each.

This is for the second day that the daily number of cases against more than 35,000 tests exceeded the 11,000-mark as the overall number of cases stood at 9,77,568.

The Indian variant of coronavirus, dubbed as Delta variant and considered as the variant of concern globally for its high infectivity, has already become the predominant variant in Bangladesh.

A total of 53,000 Covid cases were recorded in the first week of July, almost half the cases confirmed in April and June, so far the worst Covid months in the country, according to the DGHS.

The health authorities worried over the continued growth of daily cases despite the countrywide restrictions passing its 7th day are now focusing on increasing beds in Covid-dedicated hospitals.

Rangpur division found the highest 42 per cent samples tested during the 24-hour reporting period infected with Covid-19.

Barishal division followed with 38 per cent test positivity while Chattogram division with 36 per cent, Sylhet with 35 per cent, Khulna with 33 per cent, Dhaka with 31 per cent, Mymensingh with 28 per cent and Rajshahi with 21 per cent.

Gopalganj, Tangail, Feni, Panchagarh, Kurigram and Lalmonirhat districts found more than 50 per cent of the samples infected with Covid-19.

Health officials said that the disease had spread rapidly in rural areas.

The Covid tolls are touching grim numbers at a critical time with the country’s majority Muslim population readying to celebrate their second largest religious festival, Eid-ul-Azha, in less than two weeks.

The two Eids usually cause exodus of people from Dhaka to different parts of the country and the movement of people during the largest Muslim religious festival, Eid-ul-Fitr, which was celebrated about two months ago, is believed to have been behind the worsening of the Covid situation.

Just before the Eid-ul-Fitr, the government confirmed the presence of the Delta variant, first detected in neighbouring India, turning the country into the global Covid hotspot.

Of the 201 people died during the past 24 hours, 119 were men and the rest women.

Government hospitals recorded 165 of the new deaths while private hospitals logged 23 deaths, 12 died at home and one other on the way to hospital, according to the DGHS.

Khulna division set yet another daily death record with 66 deaths in the 24-hour reporting period as the division for the third consecutive week continued registering two dozen or more deaths.

Dhaka division reported 58 deaths while 21 deaths were reported from Chattogram division, 18 from Rajshahi division, 14 from Rangpur division, nine from Sylhet division, eight from Mymensingh division and seven deaths from Barishal division.

One hundred and fifteen of the fresh dead were above 60 years while 47 were between 51 years and 60 years, 25 between 41 years and 50 years, 9 between 31 years and 40 years, 4 between 21 years and 30 years and 1 between 11 years and 20 years, according to the DGHS’s health update.

New Age correspondent in Barishal reported that the district saw its record daily cases of 662 in the 24 hours until Wednesday morning.

New Age correspondent in Rajshahi University reported that so far 121 people had died in Rajshahi Medical College Hospital’s Covid unit this month.

A total of 66 new Covid or suspected patients were admitted at RMCH in the past 24 hours taking the total number of patients undergoing treatment at its 454-bed Covid unit to 470.

News Courtesy:

https://www.newagebd.net/article/143069/bangladesh-logs-highest-daily-201-covid-deaths