Covid-19 positivity rate drops to 7.03%, lowest in 4 months

Covid-19 positivity rate dropped to 7.03% on Saturday, which is the lowest in the last four months since a 6.75% positivity rate was recorded on 17 May. 

In the following months, the country has witnessed a sharp rise in the daily positivity rate.

The number of daily cases also declined significantly with 1,327 infections reported in the last 24 hours till 8am on Saturday, which is also the lowest in the last 74 days. Bangladesh confirmed 2,325 cases in the previous day.

The country, however, saw a slight growth in daily deaths in the same period with 48 casualties which were 38 in the previous day.

Covid-19 has so far taken the lives of 26,880 people and infected 15,28,542 persons in Bangladesh since the outbreak hit the country last year.

Among the deaths reported on Saturday, 22 died in Dhaka, 12 in Chattogram, four each in Rajshahi and Rangpur, two each in Khulna and Sylhet, and one each died in Barishal and Mymensingh division.

Also, 3,168 patients were declared free of Covid-19, with a 96.51% recovery rate.

The Covid-19 victims' gender breakdown shows that 17,336 of the total deceased were men and 9,544 were women.

The country's maiden cases were reported on 8 March last year and the first death from the virus was reported on 18 March.

Over 54 Lakh Doses Of Sinopharm Vaccine Reach Dhaka

Bangladesh received over 54 lakh doses of Sinopharm vaccine on Saturday under a commercial agreement with China. A Biman flight carrying 54,01,350 shots landed at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 1am.

Deputy Chief of Mission at the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh Hualong Yan wrote in a Facebook post, "A strategic partner of Bangladesh, China will always remain the most reliable supplier whatever and whenever our Bangladeshi friend needs."

Bangladesh has so far procured 1.5 crore doses of the Sinopharm vaccines which are arriving in the country in phases every month.

The government will procure an additional six crore doses of Sinopharm vaccines from China under the Direct Procurement Method – as per the price mentioned in the agreement – to bolster the government's efforts to vaccinate the citizens.

10 Crore People To Be Vaccinated By December: Health Secretary

Health Service Division Senior Secretary Lokman Hossain Miah on Saturday said 10 crore people would get Covid-19 shots by December.

Around 20 crore Covid-19 jabs will arrive by that time, he told reporters after attending a programme at the National Institute of Mental Health & Hospital at Shyamoli in the capital.

Professor Dr Md Nazmul Islam, the spokesperson of the Directorate General of Health Services, said 3, 15,97,320 people have received Covid-19 jabs in Bangladesh so far. Of them 1,17,56,28 have got double doses while 1,98,41,292 received the first dose.

Health and Family Welfare Minister Zahid Maleque on Friday said Bangladesh would get 50 lakh doses of the Covid-19 vaccine each week till November.

"We have intensified our efforts to purchase Covid-19 jabs to accelerate the ongoing vaccination campaign to contain the deadly virus," he said.