Infection rate comes down to 5%
16 more patients have died of Covid-19 in the past 24 hours, raising the death tally to 7,734
Bangladesh has recorded 785 new cases of the novel coronavirus in the last 24 hours ending at 8am Friday.
The latest daily infection rate was 5.74%, which is the lowest daily infection rate in more than eight months. Earlier on 8 April, 2020, the daily infection rate was reported at 5.5%.
In the last 24 hours, 16 people died of Covid-19 and the death rate now stands at 1.49%.
The country's first Covid-19 cases were reported on 8 March last year, while the first death from the virus was reported on 18 March.
Bangladesh has passed its 10th month since the virus broke out, with 520,690 confirmed cases and 7,734 deaths so far, according to the Directorate General of Health Services.
Professor Nazrul Islam, noted virologist and former vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, told The Business Standard that the infection rate in the country is now declining as the daily infection rate has come down to 5%.
"The [novel] coronavirus is not dominating in our country as other viruses dominate more in winter. If the infection rate stands at 5% for three consecutive weeks, then the disease will become endemic in our country," he added.
However, Prof Nazrul Islam warned that if people do not follow the virus safety measures, infections may surge again after the winter.
Bangladesh's Covid-19 infection rate had been hovering between 20% and 25% from June to August last year. The highest daily infection rate in the country was reported at 31.91% on 3 August. The total infection rate now stands at 15.63%.
A total of 833 patients were declared free of Covid-19 in the last 24 hours, raising the total number of recoveries to 465,279 with a recovery rate of 89.36%.
Among the latest day's victims, 13 were men and three were women. All 16 patients died in different hospitals across the country while undergoing treatment.
Meanwhile, 13,681 samples were tested in 180 labs across the country in the past 24 hours. A total of 3,331,491 samples have been tested in the country so far.
