Covid-19 in Bangladesh: 13 deaths, 291 new cases recorded

Covid-19 fatalities in Bangladesh rose to 8,266 on Saturday as the health authorities recorded 13 more deaths in 24 hours till morning.

“The mortality rate is now 1.53 percent,” the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) said in a handout.

Meanwhile, 291 new cases were detected pushing up the national tally to 540,266.

The daily infection rate fell to 2.26 percent while the current overall rate is 14.09 percent.

Until the morning, 486,767  patients (90.10 percent) were recovered. So far, 3,835,216 samples, including 12,871 in the past 24 hours, have been tested.

Bangladesh reported its first Coronavirus cases on March 8 and the first death on March 18.

Coronavirus vaccination in Bangladesh

The government launched a countrywide Covid-19 vaccination drive on February 7.

Doses of Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine – acquired from India's Serum Institute – have been sent to hospitals across the country to make the inoculation drive a success.

Physicians and nurses have been trained to carry out the vaccination drive. So far, top government officials, cabinet members, judges, policemen, along with general people, have received the vaccine.

Global coronavirus situation

With the pandemic showing little sign of relenting in some countries, the global Covid caseload has now surged past 108 million.

The total case count reached 108,156,270 while the death toll from the deadly virus climbed to 2,382,172 on Saturday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The US remained the world’s worst-hit country in both the number of cases and fatalities -- at 27,489,619 and 480,748, respectively.

Brazil's Ministry of Health on Friday reported 51,546 Covid-19 infections and 1,288 deaths in the past 24 hours, bringing the country's tally to 9,765,455 cases and 237,489 deaths.

The South American country is prepared to skip this year's traditional Carnival for the first time, with all activities cancelled to avoid large gatherings in Brazil's main cities.

India's Covid-19 tally rose to 10,880,603 on Friday, as 9,309 new cases were registered during the past 24 hours, said the latest data from the health ministry.

According to the official data, the death toll mounted to 155,447 as 87 Covid patients died since Thursday morning.

Another worst-hit country in terms of fatalities, Mexico has reported 172,557 deaths and 1,968,566 cases so far.