Bangladesh confirms 13 more deaths, 706 new Covid-19 cases

On the second day of easing social distancing restrictions, Bangladesh has confirmed 13 more deaths from the novel coronavirus – the second single-day highest number of fatalities – in the last 24 hours.

The country also found 706 new infections after testing 5,867 samples in 34 labs across the nation till Thursday, reads a press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

It did not mention the reason for the spike in death toll.

However, experts opined that the opening of garments factories and less restricted movement in public places are the reasons behind the higher than usual death and infection rates. 

With this, the death toll from the deadly virus stands at 199 and the number of total infections is 12,425. Earlier on April 17, Bangladesh reported its single-day highest number of deaths from the coronavirus at 15 fatalities.

"Among the dead patients, eight were male and five were female. Six of them resided in Dhaka and others were from outside the capital. And six of the victims were aged above 60," said the release.

Generally, the DGHS discloses the number of new infections and fatalities at the daily Covid-19 virtual briefing.

However, on Thursday, Additional Director General of Health Directorate Professor Dr Nasima Sultana did not disclose the number of newly recorded deaths, instead asking the media to check the press release.

"Some 130 patients were cured in the last 24 hours, increasing the total number of recovered patients to 1,910," Dr Nasima said at the briefing.

She said that along with the existing 33 labs across the country, the Center for Advanced Research in Sciences (CARS) of Dhaka University will also conduct Covid-19 tests at their lab from now on.