Covid-19 in Bangladesh: Daily infection rate rises again, fatalities fall

Bangladesh recorded 407 more Covid-19 infections until early Saturday, meaning 545,831 people have now tested positive for the virus in the country since the start of the pandemic.

And the daily infection rate rose to 3.30%, which was 3.13% on Friday.

Also, the country saw five new Covid-19 deaths, taking the national tally to 8,400. And the fatality rate stood at 1.54%, the Directorate General of Health Services said.

The overall infection rate stood at 13.54%. However, 496,107 patients – 90.89% – have recovered so far.

And 4,030,616 tests, including 12,348 new ones, have been carried out since the first cases were reported on March 8.

Covid-19 vaccination drive in Bangladesh

Bangladesh launched a countrywide coronavirus vaccination drive on February 7.

By Saturday, 2,984,773 people had 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 free of cost. It signed an agreement with India's Serum Institute for 30 million doses of the vaccine.

The institute will provide five million doses every month between January and June.

People, who are 40 or above, can register for the vaccine at www.surokkha.gov.bd. The on-spot registration system has been scrapped.

Health experts and the government have been urging people to get registered and follow safety guidelines even after getting vaccinated.

Global Covid-19 cases cross 113 million

The global Covid-19 caseload has now surged past 113 million, despite high rates of vaccination in several countries.

The total case count reached 113, 375,335 while the fatalities mounted to 2,515,896 on Saturday morning, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The US, the worst-hit country in the world, has so far recorded 28,484,429 cases and 510,323 deaths, as per the data.

India's total Covid-19 caseload reached 11,063,491 and the death toll 156,825 on Saturday morning, according to the latest figures.

Brazil had the world's second-highest Covid-19 death toll after the United States and the third-largest caseload after the US and India.

The South American country's Covid-19 caseload and death toll stood at 10,455,630 and 252,835 on Saturday morning.