Dr Nasima calls on public to provide samples for Covid-19 testing

Prof Dr Nasima Sultana, additional director general (administration) of the health directorate, has called upon the public to cooperate in detecting Covid-19 cases by providing samples for testing.

"Help us control this pandemic. The kiosks are open for sample collection. One can give samples there between 11am and 3pm every day. And for those who cannot go to the booths, there is a special arrangement to collect their samples from home in Dhaka," she said during a daily briefing on Covid-19 today.

"So, do not panic and give us samples for testing so that we can detect novel coronavirus patients," she added.

Meanwhile, "Bangladesh confirmed 37 more deaths from the novel coronavirus and 2,459 new positive cases after testing 10,625 samples in 80 labs across the country in the 24 hours till today at 8am," Dr Nasima said.

With this, the death toll from the deadly virus rose to 2,618, and the number of total infections stood at 204,525.

The latest day's infection rate was 23.14 percent of the total tests, though the overall rate in the country till date is 19.89 percent.

Describing the state of the pandemic, she said sample collection and testing activities are underway at a total of 80 laboratories. Some 10,935 samples have been collected in the 24 hours and 10,28,299 samples have been tested so far.

Dr Nasima Sultana said of the dead patients, 29 are men and eight women. Moreover, 15 of them hailed from Dhaka, eight from Chattogram, seven from Khulna, three from Rajshahi, two from Sylhet, and one, each, from the Rangpur and Mymensingh divisions.

"Thirty-two of them died at different hospitals and five at their respective homes," she added.

Overall, 2,069 people who have died from Covid-19 are male and 549 are female – 79.03 percent and 20.97 percent, respectively.

Out of 2,618 fatalities till date: 49.05 percent or 1,284 are from Dhaka division, 25.44 percent or 666 from Chattogram, 6.23 percent or 163 from Khulna, 5.31 percent or 139 from Rajshahi, 4.66 percent or 122 from Sylhet, 3.74 percent or 98 from Barishal, 3.39 percent or 88 from Rangpur, and 2.22 percent or 58 from Mymensingh.

Additionally, some 1,546 patients have recovered during the time, increasing the tally to 111,642 and the recovery rate to around 54.59 percent.