Test positivity reaches 32.40%, 18 dead

The country on Tuesday registered 16,033 fresh Covid-19 cases in 24 hours while the daily infection rate rose to 32.40 per cent.

The daily case positivity rate reached its peak 32.55 per cent on July 24 last year.

The country also logged 18 more deaths over the same period, pushing the tally up to 28,256.

The test positivity rate has been witnessing an upward trend since the start of the new year, rising from 2.43 per cent on January 1.

On Sunday, the positivity rate stood at 32.37 per cent.

With the fresh infections, the number of total caseload reached 17,15,997, according to the daily virus update by the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) released on Tuesday afternoon.

Health authorities reported the latest figures after testing 49,492 samples at 860 laboratories across the country. Bangladesh has so far tested 1,22,12,179 samples. Meanwhile, 1,095 patients recovered from the deadly infection in the last 24 hours, raising the overall recovery to 15,58,954.

Earlier in the day, Health Minister Zahid Maleque said that 85 per cent of the hospitalised Covid-19 patients are unvaccinated against the virus.

“As high as 80 per cent of the patients have been infected with Omicron strain of the virus,” he said at a virtual discussion in the capital.

Bangladesh Private Medical College Association (BPMCA) organised the event to discuss private hospitals’ preparation to combat Covid-19. Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8, 2020, and the first coronavirus-related death on March 18 the same year.