One death in every 14 minutes in Bangladesh since last three days

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<strong>In Bangladesh, where the overall Covid-19 death toll currently stood at 10,385, one infected person died every 14 minutes in the last three days.</strong></p>
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On Sunday, the country registered 102 new fatalities, the highest single-day spike since the first reported Covid-19 death on March 18, 2020.</p>
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Both on Saturday and Friday, there were 101 new deaths.</p>
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Of the deceased, 59 were male and 43 were female. Sixty-three of them were aged above 60, 23 were between the age range 51-60, 14 were between 41-50, and two people were aged between 31-40.</p>
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Sixty-eight of the victims were reported in Dhaka, 22 in Chittagong, four each in Mymensingh and Barisal, three in Rajshahi, and one in Khulna.</p>
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The seven-day average of single-day Covid-19 deaths, with Sunday's tally, shot up to 92.2 per cent.</p>
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Meanwhile, the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) hospital with 1,000-bed capacity was inaugurated on Sunday morning as a dedicated COovid facility with all necessary facilities to treat infected patients.</p>
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At the inauguration, Zahid Maleque, Health and Family Welfare Minister, told IANS: "Bangladesh is facing a second wave of the pandemic like other countries of the world, and almost all hospitals in the country are filled with Covid-19 patients as both infections and fatalities are gradually increasing.</p>
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"It is urgent to extend healthcare facilities to treat Covid-19 patients… The government has prepared the DNCC hospital as a dedicated one within a short time installing all modern equipment to protect the lives of the coronavirus positive patients."</p>
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As a second wave of the pandemic hit Bangladesh, the government enforced a lockdown from April 5 for a week.</p>
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The second phase of the lockdown that began on April 14 will continue until the midnight of April 21.</p>
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However, the Covid-19 National Technical Advisory Committee has recommended extending ongoing strict lockdown for one more week in the wake of the unabated resurgence.</p>
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The next decision can be taken after observing the situation following the end of the extended lockdown, the committee said in a meeting on Sunday night.</p>
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The advisors also suggested preparing the lockdown exit plan gradually as well.</p>
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Till Sunday afternoon, a total of 5.6 million people had received the first dose and 1.1 million received the second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine.</p>
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The daily infection rate stands at 19 per cent, while the overall rate is 13.9 per cent in the country.</p>
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The mortality rate remains at 1.44 per cent, while the recovery rate slightly tumbled to 85.5 per cent.</p>
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With the updated data, the country's overall Covid-19 caseload currently stood at 718,950.</p>
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<em>(IANS)</em></p>
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