Daily cases drop to 1,327 with 7pc infection rate

Bangladesh reported 1,327 new coronavirus cases and 48 deaths in 24 hours till Saturday morning.

The positivity rate fell to 7.03 per cent from Friday’s 8.65 per cent.

The overall caseload stands at 15,28,542 and fatalities at 26,880, according to the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).

Health authorities reported the latest figures after testing 18,869 samples at 800 laboratories. Bangladesh has so far tested 92,21,659 samples.

Meanwhile, 3,168 patients recovered in the last 24 hours, raising the overall recovery to 14,75,235. Among the fresh fatalities, 22 were males and 26 were females.

Dhaka division logged 22 fatalities followed by 12 in Chattogram, four each in Rajshahi and Rangpur, two each in Khulna and Sylhet, and one each in Mymensingh and Barishal.

Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and the first Covid-related death on March 18 the same year.

Meanwhile, around 54 lakh more doses of the Chinese Sinopharm vaccine arrived in Dhaka in the early hours of Saturday.

Bangladesh has so far received Sinopharm vaccine doses from China as a gift, under COVAX facility, and commercial purchase.

Bangladesh is now administering vaccines developed by four companies — AstraZeneca, Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Sinopharm.