No sign of respite; 40 more Covid-19 deaths in a day, new cases 3,868

Bangladesh is still in the firm grip of coronavirus pandemic with no hope of release soon as the health directorate reported 40 more deaths from the virus and 3,868 new cases of infection testing 18,498 samples in the last 24 hours.

With this, the death toll from the deadly virus rose to 1,661 and the number of total infections stood at 130,474. 

"Of the dead patients, 31 were men and nine women," Additional Director General of Health Directorate Nasima Sultana made the disclosure during a virtual briefing today.

''Of them, 14 were from Dhaka, 12 were from Chattogram, four each were from Khulna and Barishal, three each were from Sylhet and Rangpur. 31 patients died at different hospitals, and nine died at their respective homes" she said.

"18,275 samples were collected in last 34 hours and 18,498 were tested in 66 labs across country. So far 696,941 samples have been tested," she added.

The tally of the cured patients reached 53,133, with today's reported 1,638 recovered patients.

According to the latest data by the Directorate General of Health Services, 40.72 percent novel coronavirus patients have recovered and 1.27 percent died.

The infection rate among the tested patients was 20.91 percent on Friday.

Currently, 64,121 people are quarantined across the country – including 2,922 newly-quarantined individuals. A total of 288,748 people have completed their quarantine course.

Nasima Sultana said, "The authorities placed 861 new individuals suspected of having Covid-19 into isolation, bringing the total to 13,800 after 9,567 left."

"The country is capable of accommodating 14,284 people at different isolation wards and 31,991 people at 629 institutional quarantine facilities," she added.

Moreover, there are 399 ICU facilities and 112 dialysis beds available for the treatment of coronavirus infected patients in the country.

As many as 13, 278, 165 hotline health services were given by 16,402 trained and 4,217 volunteer doctors via three designated numbers, including 1,67,070 in the last 24-hour till 8am today.

Till date, a total of 731,495 thermal screenings were conducted at different ports, including 1,645 at airports, 246 at seaports and 475 at land ports in the last 24 hours.

As per the data provided by Central Medical Stores Depot (CMSD), personal protective equipment (PPE) collected by the government has been 2,524,285 of which 2,375,064 were distributed and 153,181 are left in store.

The virus has killed 492,085 people globally and infected 9,724,146 so far.