Covid-19 infections may rise again, experts fear

Covid-19 infections are on the rise again as people are not complying with health regulations, experts said.

They said people are not taking the virus seriously. 

Though the infection rate increased after lifting lockdown, people's way of life is becoming normal now and the situation now is as normal as it was before the pandemic, according to them.

M Mushtuq Husain, adviser to the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told The Business Standard the number of patients did not increase as was feared earlier that infections would rise after Eid.

"However, it may suddenly increase as people are moving around freely without following the hygiene rules. It is true that everything has been re-opened for the sake of economy, but the rules of hygiene and social distancing must be followed," he explained.  

Bangladesh is passing the 25th week since the first case was reported. According to the health directorate, the daily infection rate in the country is lower in August compared to June.

On August 18, 3,200 cases were detected, the highest reported in a single day this month. Since then, positivity rate has been declining.

But in the 25th week, the number of patients is increasing, with 167 dying in the last four days.

Professor Nazrul Islam, noted virologist and former vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, told The Business Standard infection rate reached 20 percent on May 25, and had fluctuated between 20 and 25 percent since then.

He said infection rate had dropped below 20 percent this week, but it could spike again.

The health expert said infection cannot be reduced without isolating patients after detection.

"The number of patients did not increase suddenly, thanks to the lockdown, but now it is going up every day due to a lack of rigid containment efforts. Deaths are also increasing," he added.

Bangladesh again overtakes Pakistan

Bangladesh on Tuesday again overtook Pakistan in terms of infections.

So far, Bangladesh has recorded 299,628 cases and 4,028 deaths.

On the other hand, Pakistan has reported 293,711 cases and 6,255 deaths, according to Worldometers.info.

In South Asia, Bangladesh is now only behind India, where the number of cases has risen to 3,170,942 and that of deaths to 58,570.

Bangladesh is in 15th position in terms of total Covid-19 cases in the world.

Earlier, on Saturday, Bangladesh overtook Pakistan and was placed in the 15th position in terms of cases.

45 more deaths in last 24 hours

Bangladesh confirmed 45 more deaths in the last 24 hours till Tuesday 8am.

The number of fatalities from the virus reached 4,028 and death rate stood at 1.34 percent.

In the last 24 hours, 2,545 people tested positive, bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 299,628. The day's infection rate was 17.98 percent, although the overall rate in the country stood at 20.38 percent.

The total number of recovered patients stood at 186,756, including 3,881 new ones in the last 24 hours. The recovery rate rose to 62.33 percent.

In the last 24 hours 14,153 samples were tested in 91 labs across the country. So far, 1,470,191 samples have been tested.

A press release issued by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) on Tuesday revealed the latest numbers.

Among the deceased, 32 were men, and 13 women.

Bangladesh confirmed the first Covid-19 cases on March 8, and the first death on March 18.