Staff Correspondent
Infection rate stands at 7.91% Bangladesh records another 38 deaths and 1,043 infections over the last 24 hours till Saturday morning. With this the total number of infections in the country rises to 797,386 and the death toll stands at 12,549. The latest figures were published by the Directorate General of Health Services, via press release, on Saturday. The infection rate in the last 24 hours stands at 7.91% against 13,184 tests conducted. The overall infection rate in the country is currently at 13.48%. The mortality rate remains at 1.57%. Of the 38 deceased, 28 were male and 10 female. Nineteen were aged above 60 years, six were aged between 51-60, nine were between 41-50, and four were between the ages of 31-40. Eight of the deceased were from Dhaka division, seven from Rajshahi and Khulna, five from Sylhet, four from Chittagong and Rangpur, two from Mymensingh, and one from Barisal divisions. Thirty-seven of them died in hospitals while one Covid-19 patient died at home. In the meantime, another 1,187 recovered from the disease over the last 24 hours, taking the total recoveries to 737,408 (92.48%). Only 14 people got their first jabs of Covishield in the last 24 hours, taking the total number of first doses to 5,820,015. Meanwhile, another 37,287 got their second dose, taking the total vaccinated to 4,121,317. Alarming surge On March 8, 2020, the health authorities had reported the first three cases of Covid-19 in Bangladesh. According to month-wise data from last year, 51 Covid-19 cases were detected in March 2020; 7,616 in April; 39,486 in May; 98,330 in June; 92,178 in July; 75,335 in August; 50,483 in September; 44,205 in October; 57,248 in November; and 48,578 in December. The beginning of this year had witnessed a drastic fall of Covid-19 cases around the country but the trend lasted for only two months — 21,629 in January and 11,077 in February. After that, the country witnessed a sharp increase in infection as 65,079 cases were reported in March and 147,837 cases in April. On the other hand, according to month-wise data from last year, five Covid-19 deaths were reported in March 2020; 163 in April; 482 in May; 1,197 in June; 1,264 in July; 1,179 in August; 970 in September; 672 in October; 721 in November; and 915 in December. And according to this year’s month-wise data, 568 Covid-19 fatalities were recorded in January; 281 in February; and 638 in March. Meanwhile, authorities concerned on Tuesday confirmed that two Covid-19 patients had been found infected with the black fungus disease — adding to the concern of a population already in crisis mode due to the pandemic. One of them is still undergoing treatment at the hospital, while the other, who had contracted Covid-19 a month back, died three days ago. Black fungus, also known as mucormycosis, is normally a rare infection, which has a mortality rate of 50%. According to doctors, there is a link with the steroids used to treat Covid-19, and diabetics are at particular risk. The fungus seems to strike 12 to 18 days after recovery from Covid-19. Global situation The severe acute respiratory illness caused by a new coronavirus strain, Covid-19 broke out in China’s Wuhan city in late December of 2019 and quickly spread throughout the world. The outbreak of the virus, which was later named Sars-CoV-2, then became a global pandemic in less than three months. The fast spreading coronavirus has claimed 3,539,419 lives and infected 170,197,936 people across the world till Saturday afternoon, according to Worldometers. As many as 152,054,458 people have recovered so far from Covid-19 which has spread to 220 countries and territories across the planet. Cyclone Yaas
