37 more Covid-19 deaths, 3,240 infections in 24 hours

The Covid-19 infection and death rates remained almost steady in the last two weeks. 

But limited testing and delay in getting results have made it difficult to predict the transmission curve.

Since June 6, the Covid-19 infection rate has been around 21-23 percent. 

And there have been 40 deaths daily, on average, at that time. 

The lowest 32 deaths were recorded on June 14 and the highest – 53 – on June 16 during this period. 

According to the latest health bulletin, 37 people died from Covid-19 in the last 24 hours ending at 8am on Saturday, taking the death toll to 1,425. 

The fatality rate was 1.31 percent against the total number of detected cases, Additional Director General of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) Dr Nasima Sultana said on Saturday.

Of the deceased, 29 were men and 8 women. More than 70 percent of them were aged between 51 and 80 years. 

Another 3,240 people tested positive in the last 24 hours, taking the number of infected to 108,775. 

The infection rate stood at 23.09 percent at that time. 

And 14,031 samples tested at laboratories across the country showed the results.

"Now it is very difficult to predict how long it will take for the infection curve to flatten. But stringent measures to isolate people immediately when they show symptoms can slow down the transmission," said Kinkar Ghosh, an epidemiologist at Dhaka Shishu Hospital.

Professor Be-Nazir Ahmed, former director of the DGHS, said,  "If a lockdown is enforced properly in the red zones with high infection rates – engaging public health experts – we can expect the infection curve to reach a peak in 3-4 months and then fall to a controlled stage at the same time."

During the 24-hour span, Dr Nasima said, 628 people were placed into isolation while 187 were released. 

Total 11,915 people are staying in institutional isolation now. Another 62,000 plus are staying in institutional quarantine. 

In the last 24 hours, 759 people were screened at international airports, land and sea ports.

More than 7 lakh people have been screened up to now at all the ports and Dhaka Cantonment Railway Station. 

Meanwhile, 1,048 people have recovered and the rate is 40.44 percent against the number of detected cases, Dr Nasima said.