Bangladesh recorded 132 Covid-19 deaths, second highest-ever single-day fatalities, in the last 24 hours until Friday morning.
The fresh toll was recorded just a day after the country saw 143 deaths on Thursday.
The country also recorded over 8,000 cases for the third consecutive day with 8,483 people testing positive in a 24-hour period, the Directorate General of Health Services said in a press release.
The daily infection rate rose to 28.27 per cent, highest since August 4 last year.
The daily deaths are in the three-digit mark for the sixth straight day while the mortality rate remains 1.59 per cent.
In light of the deteriorating situation, Bangladesh on Thursday went into a seven-day countrywide strict restriction imposed by the government to curb the upsurge of Covid deaths and infections.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and the first coronavirus-related death on March 18 that year. So far, the country has seen 14,778 deaths and confirmed 9,30,042 cases.
Until Friday, 8,25,422 patients (88.75 per cent) recovered.
The total number of tests carried out since the pandemic broke out in the country is 66,70,994, including 30,012 tests in the last 24 hours. The overall infection rate is gradually increasing and currently stands at 13.94 per cent.
Among the latest fatalities, Khulna division saw the highest 35 deaths, followed by 30 in Dhaka, and 24 each in Chattogram and Rajshahi.
Besides, nine died in Rangpur division, six in Mymensingh, and two each in Barishal and Sylhet.
The majority of the victims (10,496) are men and the rest (4,282) are women.
Strict weeklong restrictions
The government-announced nationwide weeklong strict restrictions came into effect on Thursday morning to combat the growing numbers of infections and deaths from Covid-19 in the country.
Members of Armed Forces and Border Guard Bangladesh along with other law enforcement agencies were seen patrolling the streets to strictly enforce the restrictions.
Earlier on June 25, in light of the worsening condition, the government announced that a strict weeklong countrywide lockdown would be enforced from June 28 to curb the virus’ spread. The decision was revised later on.
The decision came following the recommendation of National Technical Advisory Committee on Covid-19.
NTAC suggested enforcing a minimum of 14-day complete shutdown to stem the tide of infection.
The government had earlier imposed restrictions on movement on April 5 this year. They were extended until July 15 in phases.
Although the number of cases and deaths declined to some extent, the situation went downhill in recent weeks as people are still reluctant to follow basic health rules and continue to flout government-issued guidelines.
The Covid-19 situation in the bordering districts has deteriorated in recent days, prompting the local administration to enforce full-scale lockdown in some areas.
Bangladesh shut its border with India on April 26 as the neighbouring country’s coronavirus situation worsened. The closure was extended in phases until July 14.
Amid the spike in Covid cases triggered by local transmission of the Indian variant (Delta), experts predicted that Bangladesh might see the peak of the current wave of the deadly virus in the third week of July.
