Bangladesh on Saturday added 261 new deaths related to coronavirus disease over the last 24 hours till 8:00am.
This is the second-highest daily death count in the country since August 5 when 264 fatalities were recorded.
Besides, cases from the deadly virus rose by 8,136 during the same period.
The country's overall caseload now stands at 13,43,396, while total fatalities are at 22,411, according to a daily press release issued by Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
In the 24 hours, the positivity rate dropped to 25.65 per cent from Friday’s 26.25 per cent.
Health authorities reported the latest figures after testing 31,714 samples at 707 laboratories across the country.
The country has so far tested 80,75,407 samples.
Meanwhile, 16,383 patients recovered from the deadly infection in the last 24-hours.
Among the fresh fatalities, 152 were males and 109 were females.
Dhaka division was the worst-hit region, logging 101 deaths followed by 62 in Chattogram, 45 in Khulna, 16 in Mymensingh, 12 in Barishal and 10 in Rangpur.
Also, eight more deaths were reported in Rajshahi and seven Sylhet.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8 last year and the first coronavirus-related death on March 18 the same year.
Vaccination drive
The government started a mass Covid-19 vaccination campaign on Saturday to contain the rapid spread of the deadly virus in the country.
So far, 58,20,063 people have received the first dose of AstraZeneca vaccine, and 43,44,231 the second dose.
Of China’s Sinopharm vaccine, 33,14,582 received the first shot while 92,248 the second shot.
The first dose of Moderna vaccine has been administered to 11,01,897 while none have received the second dose so far.
Meanwhile, 50,255 people have received the first jab of the Pfizer vaccine, and 7,038 the second dose.
The government has so far approved the emergency use of Oxford-AstraZeneca, Sinopharm (China), Sputnik-V (Russia), Pfizer-BioNTech (USA/Germany) and Crona Vac (China) and Janssen single-dose vaccines.
Earlier, the government allowed people aged 25 and above to register for Covid-19 vaccination. People aged 30 and above were earlier eligible to be registered for the inoculation.
Delta variant symptoms
The main variant of concern now in Bangladesh, and indeed worldwide, is the Delta variant. This variant spreads more quickly than the original virus, increasing the number of hospitalisations or deaths.
The Delta variant is believed by the WHO to be 50 per cent more transmissible and might become the dominant form of the virus in the next few months.
The variant was found in 98 per cent of the Covid-19 samples tested by BSMMU as part of a research project.
Another study found that some 93 per cent of Chattogram's Covid-19 patients in July were infected by the Delta variant.
