16pc deaths, 15pc Covid infection in July alone

Staff Correspondent

The highly contagious Delta variant continues to take its heavy toll across the country, with 16.14 per cent of total deaths and 14.97 per cent of total positive cases alone recorded from July 1 to July 15.

In its bulletin on Friday, the Director General of Health Services (DGHS) said 187 people died of Coronavirus while 12,148 positive cases were detected till 8:00am yesterday.

The month of July alone witnessed 162,363 positive cases and 2,819 deaths, according to the DGHS data.

Virologist Professor Nazrul Islam, also former vice-chancellor of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, said Covid infection is rising as the highly infectious Delta variant, better known as Indian variant, is spreading faster across the country.

People’s movement across the country in May is responsible for the fast spreading of the variant.

Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR) adviser Mohammad Mushtuq Husain said a strictly following health guideline could only reduce the infection rate but such practice is not seen here.

“Bangladesh may experience more difficult time in the days to come if it fails to control infection,” he warned.

Spokesperson of health services Robed Amin said if this situation continues, patients would face hospital crisis as already many district hospitals were sending patients to the infirmaries in the capital.

In the meantime, the government has taken initiative to set up five field hospitals to extend Covid support.

The health official asked all to follow hygiene rule to keep the infection under control.

According to the DGHS, it tested 41,947 samples in 627 laboratories across the country and found 28.96 per cent positive cases in the past 24 hours.

Of the dead, 113 were male and 74 are female while 175 of them died in hospitals across the country while 12 in homes.

The highest 68 deaths were recorded in Dhaka, 36 in Chattogram, 14 in Rajshahi, 39 in Khulna, eight in Barishal, 9 in Sylhet, 6 in Rangpur and 7 in Mymensingh.

The country sees a massive Covid surge nowadays. So far, a total of 17,465 people succumbed to the deadly pathogen and 10,83,922 got infected since the country identified the first Covid case on March 8, 2020.