Covid-19 claimed 18 more lives and infected 1,159 more in Bangladesh in the last 24 hours till Sunday morning, showing a sharp rise both in the number of deaths and daily infections.
With the latest figures, the Covid-19 fatalities climbed to 8,545 and total infections to 557,395, according to a handout of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS).
The daily infection rate jumped to 7.15 percent on Sunday from 6.26 percent on Saturday.
But the mortality rate remained static at 1.53 percent on Saturday and Sunday which was 1.54 percent in the past few weeks, the DGHS said in a handout.
The virus infection rate had come down to below 5% on January 19 last. It even had come down below 3 percent. However, the infection rate soared again on Tuesday last as it increased to 5.13%.
The infection rate was 5.98% on Wednesday while 5.82 percent on Thursday, 6.62% on Friday and 6.26% on Saturday.
The country's daily Covid-19 cases stayed below the 1,000-mark before Wednesday when the daily Covid-19 cases rose to 1,018.
Besides, 1,385 people recovered from the virus infections during the period. So far, 511,695 patients (91.80 percent) have recovered, according to the DGHS.
Bangladesh reported its first cases on March 8, 2020 and the first death on March 18 in the same year.
Authorities have so far tested 4,264,551 samples, including 16,206 in the past 24 hours.
Covid-19 vaccination drive in Bangladesh
Bangladesh launched its nationwide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7.
By Saturday, 4,304,259 people received the first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. The second dose has to be taken between 8 and 12 weeks of the first one.
The government is providing the vaccine for free. It signed an agreement with India's Serum Institute for acquiring 30 million doses of the vaccine.
The institute will provide five million doses every month between January and June. Those who are 40 or above can register for getting the jab at www.surokkha.gov.bd as the on-spot registration system has been revoked.
Health Minister Zahid Maleque has said the age limit for getting the vaccine will be revised once more doses are available in the country.
Global Covid-19 situation
Amid spike in Covid-19 cases in different parts of the world, more than 119.4 million people have been infected with the virus globally, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
The total case count reached 119,487, 107 and the death toll mounted to 2,647,950 as of Saturday morning.
Death toll in the US has surpassed 534,279 while the total caseload from the virus reached 29,399, 486.
The U.S. has experienced 1 in 5 deaths worldwide, compared with 1 in 75 deaths globally by the rough estimates of the pandemic a century ago, reports AP.
Brazil reported 76,178 new COVID-19 cases with 1,997 deaths over the past 24 hours, Brazil health ministry said.
Brazil has thus registered 11,439,558 cases with 277,102 deaths so far, it said.
Sao Paulo, the country's most affected state by the disease, registered 434 deaths in the last 24 hours, taking its total death tally to 63,965. Local health authorities said hospital capacity of the state is approaching the limit.
India’s total tally exceeded 11,333, 728 while the death toll from the virus crossed 158,446 as of Sunday.
